Can I install Ubuntu in my PC

[utpalsarkar]

I am a web-developer. I am using Windows from begging . But I am not a huge fan of Windows . Here is my PC configuration, can I install the latest version of Ubuntu (Or suggests one please) on my machine? And also I don't want to lose my previous data there in different partition, do I have to delete all partition or can I install it in C drive ?

OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
Version 10.0.17134 Build 17134
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name DESKTOP-2MRDDKO
System Manufacturer ASUS
System Model All Series
System Type x64-based PC
System SKU All
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-4150 CPU @ 3.50GHz, 3500 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. 1003, 10/24/2014
SMBIOS Version 2.7
Embedded Controller Version 255.255
BIOS Mode Legacy
BaseBoard Manufacturer ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
BaseBoard Model Not Available
BaseBoard Name Base Board
Platform Role Desktop
Secure Boot State Unsupported
PCR7 Configuration Binding Not Possible
Windows Directory C:\Windows
System Directory C:\Windows\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "10.0.17134.1"
User Name DESKTOP-2MRDDKO\Utpal Sarkar
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 6.00 GB
Total Physical Memory 5.87 GB
Available Physical Memory 2.08 GB
Total Virtual Memory 9.50 GB
Available Virtual Memory 2.79 GB
Page File Space 3.63 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys
Kernel DMA Protection Off
Virtualization-based security Not enabled
Device Encryption Support Reasons for failed automatic device encryption: TPM is not usable, PCR7 binding is not supported, Hardware Security Test Interface failed and device is not InstantGo, Un-allowed DMA capable bus/device(s) detected, TPM is not usable
Hyper-V - VM Monitor Mode Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Second Level Address Translation Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Virtualization Enabled in Firmware Yes
Hyper-V - Data Execution Protection Yes

[SeijiSensei]

I recommend you download the Windows version of VirtualBox, then create a virtual machine and install Ubuntu to that. See if you like it. I prefer Kubuntu, the version of Ubuntu with the KDE desktop, but that's a matter of taste.

https://download.virtualbox.org/virt...135406-Win.exe

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/bionic/daily-live/current/
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/bi...-live/current/

The "bionic" distribution (18.04) has "long-term support." Interim versions like 19.10 have support for nine months.

[oldfred]

I do not have Windows and have multiple Linux installs on my Haswell based system.
Asus Z97-AR, i5 processor, 8GB RAM, small SSD & HDD.

It does not look like you have updated UEFI to latest available. You should do that whether installing Ubuntu or not.

I have not tried VirturalBox, yet, but plan to.


I use the LTS - long term support version as main working install or currently 18.04. Next LTS will be 20.04 and daily live updates to it are available, but it is changing a lot, so log files & updates are large. I have 20.04 to see what changes it has.
Unless hardware is very new & you need the very new kernel & drivers in the 6 month releases, best to stay with LTS versions.

Did you install Windows in UEFI or BIOS boot mode? It really should be UEFI.
But you want Ubuntu in same boot mode as Windows.

More info on UEFI install in dual boot mode in link below in my signature.

[Dennis N]

I have Asus H97 motherboard with the same processor as yours, Intel Core i3-4150. You will need a newer BIOS than 10/2014 if you plan to use NVMe SSD. The NVMe support arrived in 2015 BIOS versions. And it will boot from the NVMe drive. But, I recollect that not all Asus boards using Haswell can be upgraded to support NVMe boot - only the Z97 and H97 will. Check on that. Of course, you could always using SATA SSDs if necessary.

[TheFu]

+1 for using virtualbox in the beginning. It doesn't risk anything in your Windows install, just storage space. Inside a VM, I'd stay away from the default Gnome3 Ubuntu desktop. Almost any other flavor would be fine, provided you go with 18.04. With a VM, the hostOS (Windows for you) would hide any funky hardware from the GuestOS, Ubuntu-whatever. You won't need to deal with network drivers, wifi drivers, new/old GPU drivers. All of that is hidden because the virtual machine hypervisor provides extremely well-supported virtual hardware. For the best VM performance, choose virtio for both networking and disk hardware to be presented to the guest machine.

Understanding the Ubuntu release cycles is important for a software developer. If you aren't specifically working on Ubuntu software, use only LTS versions. Explanation: https://ubuntu.com/about/release-cycle

Any desktop variant can run all the Linux server software, so don't worry about that.

One last, but very important thing. "C: drive" is an incorrect term. C: is actually a partition. So is "D: Drive" - partitions, both of them. In Windows that doesn't appear to matter too much, but in every other OS, confusing a "drive" with a "partition" will have catastrophic outcomes. If you don't go with the virtual machine method, then you'll need to understand those differences BEFORE installing. If not, it is very common to wipe Windows accidentally. If you don't use a virtual machine setup, be certain you have backups for anything, everything, you don't want to lose. That would be boot partition, OS partitions, data partition, and all the data inside each.

[utpalsarkar]

Thanks to all!
@TheFu Your explanation was awesome!

[yancek]

If you eventually decide to install Ubuntu with windows, I would suggest that you read through the Ubuntu documentation below which is very thorough on dual booting with the most recent version of windows. Skip the parts about installing UEFI as your machine is Legacy. A bit unusual for 10 unless it wasn't preinstalled?

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UEFI

can I install it in C drive ?

NO, not if you want to use Ubuntu. You need a Linux filesystem

[TheFu]

NO, not if you want to use Ubuntu. You need a Linux filesystem

Just for clarity - No is the answer if you don't use virtualization and directly install any other OS next to your Windows installation. Lots of caveats exist when doing that. Most important is to make backups of anything you cannot lose.

OTOH, if you do use virtual machines, then a block of storage, say 15-30G in size "somewhere" inside Windows will be needed for the block storage that the Ubuntu Guest uses.

[RobGoss]

Hello and welcome, My question to you would be are you planing on using Windows at all on this machine?

I would say what ever machine your using you can just add another drive maybe a SSD if possible and install Linux / Ubuntu on that, this way you won't mess anything up on the Windows drive, simply unplug the Windows drive and plug the Linux drive in and install Ubuntu on it. if for some reason you do not like Linux just remove the Linux drive plug your Windows drive back in and no harm done

[sdsurfer]

^^ That is what I did. I maintain two drives, the Windows drive is more or less storage, almost never go back to it.

Alternatively you can run Ubuntu directly from the disk (CD/DVD) to test it out, no install necessary.