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I need help and please be patient with my sexagenarian memory. I am using Windows 7 on my computer and I very much want to start using Ubuntu. The problem for me is that there seems to be all sorts of choices and different flavors of Ubuntu that I don't know where to begin. What I would like to do is: To ease into Ubuntu by being able to somehow use Window 7 and Ubuntu together. Over time, I hope to keep doing more and more with Ubuntu, but until then, How can I best install Ubuntu where I can move between Windows 7 and Ubuntu ?

  • I am thinking that probably 13.10 would be the best choice for me rather than 12.04?
  • Is there a way I can tell if I can boot up from a USB drive on my Laptop??
  • Recommendations of some basic documentation on the site that will help guide me. I would like to do my learning with it in pieces. Some time on a regular basis.
  • I am not ready to reformat my drive and remove Windows 7. What do you think might be best way to install it, meaning
    • On a USB flash drive
    • On my laptop drive
    • Making a bootable CD/DVD
SurvivalMachine
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user252865
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2 Answers2

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Welcome to AskUbuntu. First of all, next time you post here please restrict it to a single question. I'll consider this simply as a request for advice on a first experience with Ubuntu.

In your case my recommendation is for a USB flash drive install. It is fairly easy to do and provides you the full Ubuntu experience. I used Ubuntu this way for a while at an office where I could not install Ubuntu on the hard drive. Check out the answers to this previous question for details.

Mostly likely your laptop will be able to boot from the USB drive without issue. If that is not the case you can browse through previous question on the matter or post your own question.

And enjoy Ubuntu.

Community
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Luís de Sousa
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I'll give some insight, or hindsight, rather.

1) If you're wanting to install Linux OS, but don't know which "flavor" or "choice" to use, I would recommend getting Ubuntu Desktop 13.10. It's a nice, easy transition to a Linux OS by use of a simple GUI interface (don't bother with other flavors like "Lubuntu" or "Xubuntu", you'll just get stuck easily).

2) You can check if your computer can boot from USB by having a blank 4GB+ thumb drive, sticking it in the port, and shutting down your computer. When you turn your computer back on look for a prompt at the bottom of the screen (pay attention, it's fast) (should be a function key), saying "Boot Options". Press the appropriate key, and if the option for "boot from USB" is an option, then congrats, you can boot from a USB.

3) Recommendations of a place to look for help: youtube.com , here askubuntu.com, etc.. Just be careful what you read, and make sure you trust something before you try it.

Side note: When, and if, you choose to boot from USB, 2 options will be given: a) Try Ubuntu -Will basically make your USB your OS b) Install Ubuntu -Will ask if you want to run ubuntu alongside your current OS (recommended), or replace current OS with Ubuntu (will delete all of your files).

Be aware, that when you download the .iso file from ubuntu.com, and save it to your USB drive, you can't simply just "boot from USB". You have to make the USB drive a.. "bootable" USB drive. To do so, download this program from here. It's a small file, and the site should walk you through on how to set everything up.

From there, the Ubuntu website will walk you through how to boot your computer up from a USB drive. Good luck, 'cause I needed this help 2 days ago, and didn't get this kind of information. Hope this helped you.

The Buddha
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