What has your recent Wubi experience been like?

[aysiu]

For my first few years of using Ubuntu, I was a big fan of the traditional dual-boot (resize Windows partition, make room for Ubuntu, install Grub to the MBR, let Grub handle the dual-boot). In fact, when I first started using Ubuntu, Wubi didn't even exist!

After a while, though, I gave Wubi a try on a number of Windows computers (both really and virtualized), and I have had absolutely zero problems with Wubi.

I have noticed a couple of people mentioning that they would never recommend Wubi for a dual-boot to new users.

I really need to know if that is just a vocal minority of a couple of users who had freak bad experiences or if it is, as Jane Austen would say, a truth universally acknowledged.

Please vote what your Wubi experience has been. Thanks!

[Bölvaður]

tripple booting
"never had problems" except be forced to change grub on my /boot partition from time to time, does that classify as not-so-good experience ?
never had wubi

[aysiu]

"good" or "not so good" is really subjective, I guess. However you define it. I don't really want people having "not so good" experiences, even if it's something I would consider minor.

Thanks to all who've voted so far. Keep 'em coming!

[jkxx]

Running Kubuntu 10.04RC natively which installed without problems through the traditional install method.

I last tried Wubi with the most recent beta release but it'd pop up an error in windows as soon as I'd run it and then close, so that's as far as I got with it. Not that I'm complaining since ext4 is really fast but I hope it's fixed for the final release.

(tried running it from Vista 64/SP2)

[Frogs Hair]

I have helped four people with Wubi installations with no major problems reported.
My Wubi install worked great, but decided to dual boot after using 9.10 for little while.
All installations were on W7 and all computers are well cared for.

[madjr]

wubi on 9.10 (or 9.04.. cant remember)was not so great, had bunch of black screens (like hacks..) and failed to install twice (fault of ext4?). which was weird because on previous versions it worked like a charm...

hope they fix it up for lucid

[hiflyer780]

I'm a big fan of WUBI, I think it's a good idea, and although it does decrease performance a bit, I can live with it because my computer is plenty fast enough for my taste. However, I was very disappointed after the GRUB update because I was forced into a BASH command line when i tried to boot into Ubuntu. It took me a few hours of surfing the internet to finally figure out and fix the problem. I know this is a WUBI only problem and so far it is my only complaint with it. To this day I still have to skip the GRUB PC update so I can still boot into Ubuntu. I really hope this is fixed with the 10.04 release.

[magmon]

I really need to know if that is just a vocal minority of a couple of users who had freak bad experiences or if it is, as Jane Austen would say, a truth universally acknowledged.


My wubi installations had the nasty tendency to stop functioning after a few days, totally without explanation. No complaints though, it's this fact that made me a linux convert in the end.

[RiceMonster]

Well not sure if this counts, but a friend installed in on a laptop and it worked great.

[aysiu]

I hope people don't mind me bumping this. I really would like to get more than 23 responses to the poll.

[Bachstelze]

Trad. dual boots only. No-nonsente, to-the-point, Just Works™. Never seen the point of Wubi.

[lisati]

I used Wubi for a while on my current laptop, but ran into this problem (https://bugs.launchpad.net/wubi/+bug/365881) on one of my desktops a couple of versions ago.

[LinuxFox]

I only used Wubi to dual-boot, and I haven't had any problems. I know Wubi relies on Windows, but I use Windows very little. The way I see it, when Ubuntu is used via Wubi, Windows isn't used at all, so I don't have to worry about Windows messing Ubuntu up. At least that's what I think.

That's just my opinion on Wubi from my experience. Also I read that I can't hibernate with Wubi, but I don't think ever had the need to hibernate my computer.

[Old_Grey_Wolf]

I've tried WUBI, and had problems with it.

I prefer virtual machines or dual boot. Since virtual machines and dual boot are used on the most popular operating systems, more people know how to help if there is a problem.

A beginner needs the support of a community, and a community that is familiar with the product. IMHO, WUBI is not well know, and is distro specific, which limits the possibilities for support.

It is confusing for the helpful Ubuntu forum members when they are trying to providing help. For example, they don't always know the person is using WUBI, and are provide instructions referring to the sda partition when all the OP sees is a C: drive.

[neuticles]

I've used Wubi with kubuntu 9.10, with no problems. I cannot run Wubi with the kubuntu 10.04 install disk. Windows keeps saying it doesn't see the disk.

My current install is 9.10 Wubi Kubuntu. When I responded affirmatively to the upgrade? request on my desktop, the install ran into numerous problems leaving my install unusable.

Nobody on the kubuntu forum seems to know much about wubi, so no joy there.

I really don't want to dual-boot as it's a thinkpad and there is some type of hidden partition holding restore files that I don't want to take a chance on not being able to access due to a dual boot setup.

When I asked on the kubuntu forum who knew about kubuntu Wubi, and where to go for help, they deleted the post! :confused:

Ah well, I'll get it sorted out eventually, it's just rather daunting and certain to discourage the average user from trying Wubi at all...

[tica vun]

I've never had the need to run more than one OS on the same computer thus far.

[phredbull]

My first Linux experience was with a Wubi install on my XP laptop; I had some minor glitches to work out, and ended up re-installing a couple of times, but ultimately I used it comfortably for a few months until the Grub glitch. I was then comfortable enough with Linux to go for a full partition install. This install also had a little bit of weirdness, but nothing major.

I've heard people say that Wubi is good for a trial run, but not for long term use. I don't know why people think this, but both methods seemed to work ok along side my (rarely used) XP install.

[LinuxFox]

I've heard people say that Wubi is good for a trial run, but not for long term use. I don't know why people think this, but both methods seemed to work ok along side my (rarely used) XP install.Same here, I just see Wubi as another install option. I even posted a topic yesterday and someone told me to get rid of it. If I wanted to try Ubuntu, then I'll use the Live CD. I've only used Wubi and never had a problem. I also rarely use Windows, I mainly use it for my iPod and playing some Windows games.

Though using Wubi does have its risks, for example if you need to reformat your hard drive and reinstall Windows, you'll lose Ubuntu since it's installed inside Windows like a program. If you're careful using Windows and scan for viruses and spyware regularly, then Wubi is fine in my opinion.

Also, in my experience, whenever I use Ubuntu via Wubi, Windows is not used. I've used Ubuntu via Wubi for days and when I boot Windows, my anti-virus is out of date. If Windows was being used, my anti-virus would update itself, but since Windows is not being used, it won't be up to date. This is only my guess based off of my own experience.

[alzie]

I've used Wubi since 7.04 and had true dual boots and other than wubi installs being a bit slower the only issues I've had was the change to Grub2 and the update for grub messing it up. I blame that on the decision to go to grub2. :rolleyes:

[phillychease]

i had a bad experience with 9.10
after updating it restarted and i couldn't go back in Ubuntu.
had to delete Ubuntu.
afterwards i was like eff this and had a fresh install with Ubuntu.
now only Ubuntu on my comp! :)

[dtfinch]

With Wubi, I didn't have a problem so much as I had a fear of a problem.

People have said that if there is a crash or power loss, they're forced to boot into Windows because their ntfs partition is unclean, and then chkdsk runs and sees the file holding their installation as corrupt and deletes it. I haven't used Wubi long enough to find out how common that is.

[DogMatix]

The only problems I have with wubi is there is no hibernation. (Not cool if you crash out with your netbook still on) and if windows goes belly up it takes out your ubuntu too (although a sensible person would have good back-ups - wouldn't they? :()

[Phrea]

I voted "I've used only Wubi for dual-boots - good experience".
Don't do dual-boot, and since I was going to convert this computer to Lucid anyways, I thought, why not try out that Wubi thingy for a few days.
Worked like a charm, I believe I used Lucid Beta2, but it could've been Beta1.

[Paqman]

Never seen the point of Wubi.

You're not the target audience. Partitioning is genuinely intimidating for people who've never done it before. Anything that can get people into a Linux environment easily is a good thing. First impressions count.

[thorbs]

I have just installed with wubi the last month. After wanting to try Ubuntu (and Linux) for a long time I finally did it.

As a concept I think it is good. It is less intimidating to enter the Linux world like this.

My experience have not been so good. I have had continuous problems with not being able to install programs. I have tried to install the e-editor, xmind, and xampp. All failed. Now it might be something I do wrong and nothing to do with the wubi. But still it has been giving me some problems and made me not feeling completely safe completely migrating to Ubuntu.

[detroit/zero]

I voted "other".

This computer is odd for some reason - I can't get any Linux LiveCD to run on the thing.

It has something to do with the NVidia card I have in, because if I unhook the monitor from the card and change the default video to the on board Intel in BIOS, I can run any livecd, and then go through a nightmarish process of hacking up NVidia drivers (along with blacklisting a number of kernel modules) to get them to work. I bought this computer in late 2005, and it's always been that way.

I don't feel I should have to do all that, so I've been running strictly Windows 7 for the last six months or so. I tried wubi the day Lucid came out, and I get some weird Python error as soon as I pop in a CD or a USB drive.

[jfloydb]

Wubi has always worked great for me. I hope Ubuntu always has a Wubi option. I wish other distros had Wubi options.

[phredbull]

People have said that if there is a crash or power loss, they're forced to boot into Windows because their ntfs partition is unclean, and then chkdsk runs and sees the file holding their installation as corrupt and deletes it.

I'm using a laptop with a sketchy battery, so I've experienced plenty of power losses, and I've never had that happen in the 3-4 months that I used Wubi.


The only problems I have with wubi is there is no hibernation. (Not cool if you crash out with your netbook still on)

Isn't laptop power management sketchy in all versions of Linux? I'm using kernel 2.6.34rc2, which is supposed to have improved, (though not completely functional) PM, and I find "suspend" works more reliably in XFCE than in Gnome, ("more reliably" meaning it succesfully wakes up about 60-70% of the time).

[tjeremiah]

Its been great. Ive been using it since 8.04. Then, it was terrible. Performance issues throughout 8.04-8.10. I heard that wubi may slow dow performance and I decided to do an actual install of Ubuntu and get rid of wubi. Months later I got tired of Ubuntu and decided to delete it, remove it from the bootup process leaving windows all by itself again. That was an adventure I wish to never travel again. In the long tedious process of removing Ubuntu, I almost damaged Windows.

Got that Ubuntu feeling back again and this time decided to try wubi once more. With 9.10 and now 10.04, the performance has been great. It even boots up in less than 15 seconds. Wubi would be the route I will continue to use if future installs of Ubuntu is needed.

[Water_Spirit]

bump

[purplegirl5]

I tried to install ubuntu a couple of times, via live cd, in the past 3 years. Each time I failed. I recently googled computer "OS", and found ubuntu 10.04 and wubi. I did try the live cd, twice, but my computer crashed. So I just put both "iso" image and "wubi" on my desktop, after a full system recovery, and followed instructions. It worked the first-time. I had to tell Windows to increase display time, for boot options, via the control panel, so i could see the ubuntu option, at bootup, as instructed, but it installed on the 1st try, because I saw that my free hard drive space had decreased. I used XP-home, mainly surfing the internet, and watching tv shows and movies.
After my computer crash, the last time, I consulted the ubuntu forums, for help. Sorry I don't remember what thread gave instructions help, but I joined after installing, and I'll mark solved, on any future help, that works.
It's been a couple of days, and Ubuntu really is not as scary as I thought it was. I'll keep experimenting, and might possible drop windows in the near future. Thanks so much! for a wonderful option to windows.:p

[v1ad]

dual booting, and had to google wubi after seeing a lot of people talking about it.

[purplegirl5]

2nd Ubuntu installation using Wubi. My 1st installation, last week, crashed, probably because i was (adding/deleting) too much stuff (packages), and removed something vital.
There is soooooo much to choose from.

Also, tried Kubuntu, before going back to Ubuntu. Way, way, confusing. Don't think i installed it correctly.

2nd Ubuntu was put on a external HD, with "wubi". Did not think it would work, because you have to stop,"safe to remove hardware" first. The first click did not, because it said "could not find usb drive. Closed wubi and immediately tried again, and it worked.

Is there be a big difference between Live CD install and wubi install? I've notice boot options are increasing. There are (2) recovery - windows, I think 1 for each HD, (1) Ubuntu-normal, (1) Ubuntu recovery, (1) windows normal.:?:
Thanks. Liking Ubuntu more and more.

[bilkay]

I installed wubi on a laptop a few weeks ago as my first experience with ubuntu - I've been using RedHat/Fedora for years. Now I'm being told I should have done a traditional repartition/install - and I can't figure out why. I'm impressed! I'll be installing ubuntu on my desktop shortly, but that won't be wubi.

[Dustin2128]

I used it with 8.04 until I set up a true dual boot in late '08.

[majabl]

I used wubi to put Ubuntu 10.04 on my mother's T42 ThinkPad a couple of months ago, and it's working better for her than Windows XP did. (For whatever reason, we can't make her laptop's wireless work under XP, but it works 'straight out of the box' in Ubuntu.)

[NightwishFan]

Installed 10.04 on my friends desktop. Everything works out of the box, and disk access seems to perform fine.

[PaulW2U]

I took the plunge about three months ago and made a Wubi install. It worked perfectly with Windows XP although it may have been a little slow. I was amazed that the installation went so smoothly. After a couple of weeks I decided that I wanted to keep Ubuntu so I wiped the hard drive and installed it properly as I no longer needed XP on this PC.

[Spice Weasel]

I've never used it, and never plan to. I haven't had a non-*nix OS installed on my PC for years.

[Don544]

Total newbie to Ubuntu(tried back on ver 5. something) and so far it has been horrible.Wubi failed to boot about every third or fourth time would have to uninstall sometimes as the recovery mode would fail, install as a side by side caused win7 to fail and had to reinstall both.
When tried to install this time the installer package says that there are no files or settings I can import even tho I did not uninstall wubi as I wanted to import those files.
Grub boot loader did still show the instance of ubuntu and the correct drive but also showed non existent partitions.
So it has not been an easy try out so far and as I type here it is spell checking as I go and underlining every word.

[bilkay]

I've been using Wubi on an HP G62 laptop for several months and have experienced two significant problems, but I'm not sure they're Wubi-related:

1. Every half-dozen or so boots end in a dark screen with non-blinking cursor after the initial Ubuntu screen comes up. Have to do a 3-finger reboot.

2. The built-in speakers and mic do not function. Headphones and plug-in mic do work, however.

Other than that, no complaints.