How to Install Ubuntu 20.04 Alongside With Windows

This tutorial describes the installation process of the latest release of Ubuntu Desktop 20.04, codename Focal Fossa, on a dedicated machine or a virtual machine alongside a pre-installed Windows 10 Operating System. The installation process can be done via the Ubuntu Desktop DVD ISO image or via a bootable Ubuntu USB drive.

The Ubuntu OS will be installed on a UEFI motherboard with Legacy Mode or CSM (Compatibility Support Module) option disabled.

Requirements

1. Download Ubuntu Desktop 20.04 ISO image for x86_64bit architecture.
2. A direct or a proxy internet connection.
3. Rufus utility in order to create an Ubuntu Desktop bootable USB drive compatible with UEFI motherboards.

Create Free Space on Windows for Ubuntu Install

On a pre-installed machine with a single Windows 10 partition, you need to create some free space in Windows partition in order to install Ubuntu 20.04.

First login to the system using an account with administrator privileges, open a Command Prompt window with admin rights and execute diskmgmt.msc command to open Disk Management utility.

Select the Windows partition, usually C: volume, right-click on this partition and select Shrink Volume option in order to reduce the partition size.

Windows Disk Management Utility

Wait for the system to collect partition size data, add the desired amount of space you want to shrink, and hit in the Shrink button.

Shrink Windows Partition

After the shrink process completes, a new unallocated space will be present in your drive. We’ll use this free space to install Ubuntu alongside Windows 10.

New Windows Partition for Ubuntu Install

Install Ubuntu 20.04 Alongside with Windows

On the next step, place Ubuntu Desktop DVD ISO image or the bootable USB stick into the appropriate motherboard drive and, reboot the machine and hit the appropriate bootable key ((usually F12 , F10 or F2 ) in order to boot the Ubuntu installer DVD or USB bootable image.

On the first installation, screen select Install Ubuntu and hit Enter key to start the installation process.

Install Ubuntu 20.04 Desktop

On the next screen, select the keyboard layout for your system and hit on the Continue button.

Choose Keyboard Layout

In the next installation screen, choose Normal installation and hit on the Continue button. In this screen, you also have the option to perform a Minimal installation of Ubuntu Desktop, which includes only some basic system utilities and a web browser.

You can also turn off Secure Boot option, if this option is enabled in motherboard UEFI settings in order to install third-party software for graphic card, Wi-Fi or additional media formats. Be aware that turning off Secure Boot option requires a password.

Select Ubuntu Installation Type

Next, In the Installation type menu, choose Something else option in order to manually partition the hard disk and hit on the Continue button.

Ubuntu Manual Partition

In the hard disk partition table menu, select the hard drive free space and hit on + button in order to create the Ubuntu partition.

Choose Free Space Partition

In the partition pop-up window, add the size of the partition in MB, choose the partition type as Primary, and the partition location at the beginning of this space.

Next, format this partition with ext4 filesystem and use / as a partition mount point. The /(root) partition summary is described below:

• Size = minimum 20000 MB recommended
• Type for the new partition = Primary
• Location for the new partition = Beginning of this space
• Use as = EXT4 journaling file system
• Mount point = /

Create Root Ubuntu Partition

After completing this step, hit on the OK button to return to disk utility. Other partitions, such as /home or Swap are optional in Ubuntu Desktop and should be created only for special purposes.

However, if you still want to add a home partition, select free space, hit on + button and use the below scheme to create the partition.

• Size = size allocated as per your requirements, depending on the size of remaining disk free space
• Type for the new partition = Primary
• Location for the new partition = Beginning
• Use as = EXT4 journaling file system
• Mount point = /home

In this guide, we’ll install Ubuntu alongside Windows 10 with only the /(root) partition set. After you’ve created the required root partition on the disk, select Windows boot Manager as a device for the boot loader installation and hit on Install Now button.

Partition Table Summary

In the pop-up window, hit on the Continue button in order to commit the changes that will be written to disk and start the installation.

Confirm Partition Changes

On the next screen, select your location from the provided map and hit on the Continue button.

Choose Your Country Location

Next, insert your name, the name of your desktop, a username with a strong password, and choose the option with ‘Require my password to log in’. When you finish, hit on the Continue button and wait for the installation process to complete.

Create Ubuntu User

During the installation process, a series of screens that describe Ubuntu Desktop and the installation progress bar will be displayed on your screen. You cannot interfere with the installation process in this final stage.

Ubuntu Installation Progress

After the installation completes, eject the installation medium and hit on Restart now button in order to reboot the machine.

Ubuntu Installation Finishes

After reboot, the system should boot into the GNU GRUB menu. In case the GRUB menu is not displayed, restart the machine, go to motherboard UEFI settings and change boot order or Boot Options -> BBS priority.

The settings to enable the GRUB menu highly depend on your machine motherboard UEFI settings. You should consult motherboard documentation in order to identify the settings that need to be changed in order to display the GRUB menu.

Ubuntu Boot Grub Menu

Finally, log in to Ubuntu 20.04 Desktop with the credentials configured while installing the system and follow the initial Ubuntu welcome screen in order to start using Ubuntu Desktop.

Ubuntu Login Screen Ubuntu 20.04 Desktop

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa alongside Windows 10 on your machine.

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Dual-booting Linux with Windows: What you need to know

Windows 10 or Linux Mint? You can have it both ways, but there are a few tricks for doing it right.

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Windows 10 isn’t the only (kind of) free operating system you can install on your computer. Linux can run from just a USB drive without modifying your existing system, but you’ll want to install it on your PC if you plan on using it regularly.

Installing a Linux distribution alongside Windows as a “dual boot” system will give you a choice of either operating system each time you start your PC. It’s the ideal way for most people to install Linux, as you can always get back to a full Windows system with a reboot.

Want to stay up to date on Linux, BSD, Chrome OS, and the rest of the World Beyond Windows? Bookmark the World Beyond Windows column page or follow our RSS feed.

Always install Linux after Windows

If you do want to dual-boot, the most important time-honored piece of advice is to install Linux on your system after Windows is already installed. So, if you have an empty hard drive, install Windows first, then Linux. If you already have Windows installed, you’re clear to install Linux.

When you install Linux after Windows, the Linux installer knows how to deal with Windows, resize its partition, and set up a boot loader with an option allowing you to choose Windows at boot time.

The bootloader shows both Linux and Windows options on a dual-boot system.

When you install Windows after Linux, Windows ignores Linux, doesn’t know how to resize its partitions, and overwrites the Linux boot loader with its own. You’ll have to repair the Linux system’s boot loader before you can boot back into your Linux system again. The Ubuntu wiki has instructions for repairing your boot loader, if you need to. You can always just reinstall Linux, too. But it’s best just to install Linux after Windows.

How to set up a dual boot system

The dual-boot installation process is fairly simple with a modern Linux distribution. It’s just like installing a Linux distribution normally—you should see an easy option to select.

First, choose your Linux distribution. Download it and create USB installation media or burn it to a DVD. Boot it on a PC already running Windows—you may need to mess with Secure Boot settings on a Windows 8 or Windows 10 computer. Launch the installer, and follow the instructions. Be sure to choose the option that installs the Linux system alongside Windows, or choose the manual partitioning option and create Linux partitions alongside the Windows ones if you’re comfortable with that. Do not choose the option that will overwrite your Windows system with the Linux one.

For example, Ubuntu’s installer offers an “Install Ubuntu alongside Windows” option that will handle this for you. You will have to choose how much space to reserve for your Linux system. Typically, you’ll be resizing your Windows partition to make room for Linux, and any room you allocate to Linux will be taken away from Windows. It’s up to you how much space you want for Windows and Linux—if you’re just using Linux to fiddle around, you may not need a massive amount of space. If you plan on installing a lot of Steam games or otherwise using it as your main system, you may want a lot more space.

At this point, Linux installers should be fairly mature and capable of resizing Windows NTFS partitions without breaking anything. But it’s essential to always have backups of your important files in case anything bad happens. Of course, the Linux installer will only be able to resize your Windows partition to make room if the Windows partition has a decent amount of free space on it. If you have a PC with multiple hard drives, you could also just leave Windows installed on one hard drive and install Linux on another separate hard drive. But they’re perfectly capable of living alongside each other on separate partitions on the same hard drive.

Choosing your operating system and sharing files

Switching back and forth between operating systems is simple. Just reboot your computer and you’ll see a boot menu. Use the arrow keys and the Enter key to select either Windows or your Linux system. This will appear every time you boot your computer, although most Linux distributions will boot a default entry after about ten seconds if you don’t press any keys. If you have a modern computer with a speedy solid-state drive, switching back and forth between Linux and Windows should be quick.

Linux gives you easy access to your Windows files, and you should see your Windows partition appear in your Linux desktop’s file manager so you can easily browse and access your Windows files. Windows doesn’t provide easy access to Linux file systems. Most Linux distributions use the ext4 file system, so you’ll need a third-party utility that supports ext4 file systems on Windows if you want to access your Linux file system from Windows.

A dual-boot configuration is also essential for PC gamers who want to run Linux. Whenever you encounter a game that only supports Windows, you can just reboot to play it in Windows with maximum performance—no tweaking necessary.

When freelance writer Chris Hoffman isn’t writing about gadgets and software, he’s probably using them in his spare time.