Install Ubuntu 1. Windows 8. 1 in 1. Everyday Linux User. Those instructions have helped people install Ubuntu since 1. Ubuntu 1. 4. 0. 4 and many Windows users upgrading to Windows 8. For instance if you create a recovery image on an external hard drive and then copy it to another external hard drive or NAS drive there is no guarantee that Windows 8. I have used Macrium Reflect for creating system images and restoring them (even after moving images around) and it works.

The software is free to use as well although there is a paid for version for extra options. Creating a UEFI bootable only Ubuntu USB drive ensures that Ubuntu is installed to a GPT partition. The Ubuntu installer therefore also recognises the existence of the Windows 8. This enables you to choose the default option for installing alongside Windows 8. Using this method it appears that there is no longer a requirement to turn off secure boot. I still had to manually set the Windows bootloader using BCDEdit.

Feel free to give the new guide a try or you can stick with the tried and trusted method below. Back up Windows. There are two steps to backing up Windows: Create a recovery drive for backing up Windows 8. Create a file history for backing up personal files. For the recovery drive you will need a USB flash drive with at least 1. Insert the USB drive into your computer. You should make sure that you have no data that you need to keep on the drive as it will be wiped during this process.

If you don't have a USB drive you can create recovery DVDs. If you don't have much then a USB drive will do. If you have nothing else to hand you can backup to DVDs. Click this option. You will be asked if you are happy to give permissions for this application to run.

The answer is yes you do. Label the bag or envelope and place it somewhere very safe. Click the option that says . Click on the . Find the drive that you want to back up to and click .

If you don't then I would recommend copying any file that that isn't stored in these folders manually using Windows Explorer. Create a bootable Ubuntu USB drive. If you choose to create your own bootable USB drive you will need another blank USB drive to continue.

Click on the download link and wait for the program to download. Find the downloaded Ubuntu ISO. This makes it possible to install software when using the live Ubuntu version and it will still be available the next time you boot from the USB drive. Shrink your Windows partition. Windows takes up the whole of the drive when it is first installed.

In order to install Ubuntu you will need to make space for it. In the search box start typing . This will bring up the .

Booting from GPT by Rod Smith, rodsmith@rodsbooks.com. Last Web page update: 11/12/2012, referencing GPT fdisk version 0.8.5. I'm a technical writer and consultant. Hyper-V implements isolation of virtual machines in terms of a partition. A partition is a logical unit of isolation, supported by the hypervisor, in which each guest. Windows 7 Disk Management & Partition Magic Windows 7 Alternative Quick links: Disk Management Windows 7 Overview; Windows 7 Disk Management Limitations. Note: This page is part of the documentation for my GPT fdisk program. One of the more unusual features of gdisk is its ability to read an MBR partition table or BSD.

You can of course choose to shrink the drive by less than offered but never go for any more than offered as you will break your Windows 8. This is where Ubuntu will be installed. Turn off fast boot. To be able to boot to your Ubuntu USB drive you will need to turn off the fast boot option. Click on the . Turn off secure boot.

You could have left that at "Who would want to steal windows 8" and it would have been more correct. Seeing as most of my hardware won't even *RUN* WIn8, and since I.

In theory you don't need to do this any more. In practise it is almost certain that you will.

Keep the shift key held down until your computer reboots. You don't have to switch to legacy mode and you shouldn't switch to legacy mode as this will not help your cause. Save and exit the UEFI settings. Install Ubuntu. When you have turned off secure boot, save and reboot. Silent Scream Ii The Bride Walkthrough on this page. You will probably end up back in Windows. The only difference is that I have closed the window that shows all the keyboard shortcuts to make it easier to highlight the . I don't want the installer failing half way through because the connection dropped.

I prefer to install the operating system and run updates as a separate task later on. If you have a good broadband connection you may wish to connect to it now so that you download updates as you go. This will slow down the initial install but will save time later on as you won't have to install lots of updates. I chose not to connect to a network as this stage (hence the cross). Click . If you haven't taken that Windows backup, quit the installation, reboot and follow step 1 of this tutorial again.

Look at the image above. You will see a large portion of free space (7. MB). This is where I put Ubuntu.

The free space is going to be split into 3. The first partition is for Ubuntu and will be 5. Gigabytes in size. The second partition is for your home partition and stores configuration files and your personal files such as music, pictures etc. The third partition is for swap space and is used for intensive operations and suspending the computer. Some people say you don't need any at all, some go for 1.

RAM and some say 2x. Unless disk space is at a premium I would just go for the 2x and have done with it. In theory if you are running lots of intensive processes such as video editing then the swap space is used to store memory that isn't currently being used (swapped) to disk.

This is disk intensive and slows down your computer but it will help to prevent a crash. Swap space is also used for suspending your computer.

This can be changed but unless you are using multiple disks you should leave this well alone. Press . So at this point you can either take my word for it and stay in the live session or you can reboot and see if the installation has worked without any further steps required. Boot Repair. I am going to assume that you chose to restart now and your computer booted straight into Windows without giving the option for Ubuntu.

Log into Windows and click the power icon next to your username in the top right corner. Hold down the shift key and select to restart your computer. Keep the shift key held down until your computer reboots. At the point of the UEFI settings appearing choose to boot from USB again. You will now be booted back into the live session of Ubuntu. Click on the network icon in the top right corner and choose your network connection. You will probably need to enter the security key.

This is just an informational message as far as I am concerned because it is perfectly fine to install Ubuntu with EFI turned on. After clicking . Press CTRL and C and then right click in the terminal window and select paste. Make sure all the commands have run correctly. You may need to press return to get the last command to run. Now click on the . You may be asked to copy and paste more text. Repeat the process of selecting all the text, press CTRL and C and then right click in the terminal window and select paste.

Make sure the commands run. Keep following through on the process until the boot repair finishes.

If you are like me then at the very end of the process you will see a message stating that boot repair completed with errors. It is worth copying the link and posting to pastebin as suggested but I think you can just continue onto the next step. Fix the boot loader. Almost there now. Reboot your computer. Unless you are lucky it will still boot straight into Windows and actually this is ok because we are going to use Windows to fix the boot loader.

Log into Windows and make sure you are viewing the desktop and not the tiles screen. Hover the mouse in the bottom left corner and right click.

You should see an option for the administrator's command prompt. Click on this option. Within the administrator's command prompt type the following command: bcdedit /set . Reboot into Ubuntu. Reboot your computer. This time when the computer boots you should see 4 options.

Ubuntu (advanced)3. Windows (might say something similar like Windows boot options).

Setup. Choose option 1. Ubuntu 1. 4. 0. 4 should now appear. Get yourself a beer, you have earned it. Reboot into Windows. Reboot your computer (click the symbol in the top right corner, click shutdown and restart).

This time when the boot menu appears click on the Windows option. Your computer should boot back into Windows 8.

Booting from GPTLast Web page update: 1. GPT fdisk version 0. I'm a technical writer and consultant specializing in Linux technologies. This Web page, and the associated software, is provided free of charge and with no annoying outside ads; however, I did take time to prepare it, and Web hosting does cost money. If you find GPT fdisk or this Web page useful, please consider making a small donation to help keep this site up and running. Thanks! Donate $1. Donate $2. 5. 0Donate $5.

Donate $1. 0. 0. 0Donate $2. Donate another value. Note: This page is part of the documentation for my GPT fdisk program.

One of the challenges of GPT is that of booting from it. In late 2. 01. 2. GPT is limited compared to support for booting. MBR, although this is changing rapidly with the adoption of UEFI. This. support varies by OS, as well. Following are my notes and general. Keep in mind, though, that these details are.

The rest of this page is broken down into three main sections. Information on EFI vs. BIOS booting; booting with EFI; and booting with. BIOS. General Comments: EFI vs. BIOSGPT is part of the EFI specification, so of course booting from GPT.

EFI. Unfortunately, EFI is still. PCs, but most new PCs are. UEFI- capable. Among common computers, Apple Macintoshes are the systems. EFI. Many new motherboards and computers now. Unified EFI (UEFI) support. UEFI being essentially EFI 2.

Most motherboards released in. UEFI support, and Microsoft requires that PCs.

Windows 8 logo ship with UEFI (and a specific UEFI feature known. Secure Boot) enabled. UEFI implementations usually include a BIOS. UEFI support or disable the BIOS (or legacy) support.

One. obscure product, the Developer's UEFI Environment (DUET), enables booting a. BIOS- based computer using a disk- based EFI implementation. I have a separate Web page that. DUET; however, the technology is still very. The upcoming . Thus, if you. EFI- based computer, you should create an.

ESP. Different sources suggest different sizes, but 1. Mi. B seems to be. If you intend to boot multiple Linux distributions in EFI mode. ELILO boot loader or a Linux kernel with EFI stub support, a. ESP makes more sense; but if you'll be storing your kernels off the. ESP, a size on the small end of the range should be sufficient.

Many Internet sources, particularly discussion groups, assert that it's. GPT disk on a BIOS computer. This is nonsense—or. OSes. Windows, in particular, is behind. I personally have. Linux and Free. BSD on GPT- only computers with. BIOSes. For the truly adventurous, it's even possible to get Mac OS running.

GPT disks on conventional hardware, although this configuration is. Apple and may even be illegal. DUET, as already noted, can. UEFI- capable OS, Windows included, on BIOS- based. That said, there are some rare BIOS/GPT conflicts; see my Legacy BIOS Issues with GPT page for details. BIOS- based computers, whether they use MBR or GPT, rely on a boot. In fact, the first 4.

MBR data structure are devoted. DOS and Windows place a very simplistic boot loader in. Other OSes and third- party utilities enable placing more.

MBR, although these boot loaders usually. In principle, these boot loaders can work just fine when the MBR is. GPT protective MBR. In practice, the boot loader needs to be. GPT- aware in order to work. The GRUB 2 boot loader, when used. GPT disk, works best when you to have a BIOS Boot.

Partition (GPT fdisk code EF0. Most boot loaders. GRUB Legacy (version 0. GPT support, don't require a BIOS Boot Partition.

If you do need it, the. BIOS Boot Partition can be quite small—sometimes as small as 3. Ki. B. although I've seen reports that some configurations require more space than. Mi. B. If you align your partitions to 1 Mi. B. boundaries, 1 or 2 Mi. B is the logical size. Old versions of GNU Parted could affect the BIOS- mode bootability of GPT.

MBR's boot code (through at least version 1. Legacy BIOS Bootable flag (through at least version 2. SYSLINUX's GPT support. Version 3. 1 lacks these problems. I've seen a few Web pages that suggest that booting from beyond the 2. Ti. B mark is iffy on BIOS- based systems.

I haven't investigated this issue. I recommend creating the BIOS Boot Partition and any OS boot. Ti. B mark. If necessary, create a small partition to. Ti. B mark. Booting from GPT with EFI is, in theory, straightforward, since GPT is. EFI specification.

There are, however, quirks related to. OS boot loaders and installers. I describe some of these, as well. OS X. EFI Boot Loaders and Boot Managers. A boot manager is a program that enables you to select which OS.

A boot loader, on the other hand, loads an OS kernel and. Many programs perform both of these functions, but. Under (U)EFI, the firmware usually includes.

OS provides its own boot loader. Most EFI. boot loaders and boot managers reside in their own subdirectories of the. EFI directory on the ESP. Rather than detail the available boot loaders and boot managers here, I. Web page on the topic, Managing EFI. Boot Loaders for Linux. Briefly, though, most Linux distributions are.

EFI version of GRUB 2. In my experience. Linux kernel since version 3.

EFInd or gummiboot to. OS to boot. Installing to (U)EFIEvery OS has installation quirks on any platform, and these can. If a disk has. a FAT1. ESP, Windows will try to create a new FAT3. ESP. If it can do. Unfortunately. many Linux installers create FAT1.

ESPs by default, so you may need to. FAT3. 2 filesystem, and restore the files if you. Linux first. To install Windows on a. Mac, you must use a the Apple EFI's BIOS compatibility mode, which in. MBR because of. Windows' limitations. Some Mac users have been trying to work around.

Windows into. working on Macs. See this. thread for one extended discussion of the issues, but be aware that. Windows 8. appears to be more willing to install to Macs in EFI mode, but the. See this. page for more information on this important feature. Note that. Secure Boot is not required by Windows 8; you can disable the. Secure Boot. It's a bit involved, so I only recommend doing this if. If they aren't met, the.

Be sure. to back up your ESP before you install Ubuntu to a (U)EFI system! I recommend creating the ESP manually before installing Ubuntu. You can work around the size problem by using the manual. FAT3. 2 for the ESP except by. Mi. B. Earlier versions of Open. SUSE had. far more serious EFI installation bugs, so I can't recommend you use.

Through at least Fedora 1. ESP was too. large.

I'm not sure if that's been fixed in Fedora 1. I partitioned. manually on my EFI Fedora 1. This fact can be used to work around some of the. Install in BIOS mode, install an. EFI boot loader, reconfigure the BIOS, and reboot. Unfortunately, many. Thus, you may need to scour.

Internet or perform experiments to figure out how to switch from. Thus, as you might. Microsoft Registry Cleaner Windows 7 64 Bit. Mac OS from a GPT disk is not a problem.

I've used. gdisk to manipulate Mac boot disks, although my tests have been. I've got just one Mac Mini. The biggest caveat seems to be. Apple's. recommendations for partition sizing and placement. The need for 1. 28. Mi. B of unpartitioned space after each OS X partition is particularly. OS X installer will refuse to install or.

Booting from GPT on BIOS- Based. Computers. Most OSes have GPT- specific boot quirks on BIOS- based computers. The. best, such as Linux, install and boot fine on GPT systems, so long as you. Others, such as. Windows, are much more challenging to get booting in this way. With all. OSes, be aware that there are some buggy BIOSes. GPT disks. These problems can usually be. GPT disk in BIOS mode.

Linux, GRUB, LILO, and SYSLINUXMost modern Linux distributions install GRUB as the boot loader. Officially, GRUB Legacy is not GPT- aware and so. GPT disk. In practice, though, patched versions. GRUB Legacy are common, and many distributions ship with them. Ubuntu switched to GRUB 2 with. Fedora switched to GRUB 2 for BIOS booting with version. Fedora continues to use GRUB Legacy for EFI booting through.

If your distribution's GRUB lacks GPT support, you can. System Rescue CD and.