The Great Battle: Ubuntu vs. Parental Controls

[Phillip Lober]

I am running a Windows 7 machine with parental controls on them. My parents are skeptical against me downloading things, and I don't blame them.

Anyway, here's the main point: The parental controls block the ability to run .exe files, and the Ubuntu boot up is on a file with a .exe extension, so is there an alternate route I can take to install Ubuntu in dual boot that doesn't involve a .exe file?

[tgm4883]

I am running a Windows 7 machine with parental controls on them. My parents are skeptical against me downloading things, and I don't blame them.

Anyway, here's the main point: The parental controls block the ability to run .exe files, and the Ubuntu boot up is on a file with a .exe extension, so is there an alternate route I can take to install Ubuntu in dual boot that doesn't involve a .exe file?

That would be wubi. You could download the ISO, burn to CD (or USB key) and do a proper dual boot (resizing partitions, installing grub, etc)

[IWantFroyo]

You don't have to use wubi.exe
Just download the normal Ubuntu file, and burn it to a disk (you'll have to already have a disc burner on your system).
Reboot, and go into setup (BIOS) to switch the boot order with CD first, save, and exit. Boot into the disc, and select it to install alongside Windows.

EDIT: Make a repair disc and backup of your Windows. If my memory doesn't fail me, you should find these settings somewhere in the Windows Control Panel.

[uRock]

I would definitely recommend getting permission before partitioning the machine. You may want to talk them into letting you install VirtualBox, then install Ubuntu within the VM.