On a side-note:
I see you've got about 53 Gigs of free, unallocated space.

You should make that your extended partition and then reboot into the Install-CD of the distribution of your choice. If that means Ubuntu, make that the most-recent stable version (8.10) of the Live-DVD to ensure that you don't end up with (yet) unsupported (too fresh of the shelf) hardware. You can then start a setup-wizard from within the Live-system that also includes a partitioner (AFAIR). Early versions didn't really support partitioning from the graphical live-system's installer but I THINK the newer ones do. Since I have been directly upgrading my system for the last couple of releases I really didn't get to see for myself, so you might want to re-check that before. Might be that you still need the "alternate-install"-Disk for manual partitioning.

JUST MAKE SURE YOU DON'T RUSH ANYTHING. Clicking "O.K." without reading what a dialogue's information is saying isn't always the right choice when using a Linux.

Other than that: Have fun!

PS.: use a proper network-connection to install the system, something with an attached and functioning ethernet-cable, not any WIFI-stuff

If I install Ubuntu using Wubi, will it install Ubuntu as an application or as a OS. So on startup I can chose what I want to run... Windows or Ubuntu?

I have it installing it using Wubi now.

I am not familiar with wubi. I kind of read about a windows.exe - hack that does all sorts of things - but when it told you it would install it in a file on one of your ntfs-partitions then I assume it will do exactly that.

quote from wikipedia:

Quote :

It is not a virtual machine, but rather, it creates a stand-alone installation within a loopmounted device, also known as a disk image, like Topologilinux does. It is not a Linux distribution of its own, but rather an installer for Ubuntu.[1]
Users interested in directly installing to a dedicated partition, like a standard Ubuntu install does, without needing a CD should use UNetbootin instead.[3]

So you see: it will create a file of a certain size (a few GB), then format THAT FILE as like as it was an actual hard-drive and then install a bootable kernel-image pointing to that file-system by the means of a "loop"-mount. So your usually invisible Windows-boot-manager will offer you the option to boot Ubuntu from there instead of proceeding with the normal Windows-startup the whole way through. That will get obvious the moment after you restart your machine for the first time after the WUBI has finished the installation-process.

A very safe and sound option if you ask me. Although it will not run as performant as a so-called "native" installation. So don't expect any wonders on system performance. AND DON'T DELETE THE FILE FROM WITHIN WINDOWS IF YOU WANT TO CONTINUE TO PLAY WITH IT.

So how will I go about choosing what OS to run. On start up will it ask me whether I want to run Vista or Ubuntu?

I will uninstall it after it has finished then and install it using the CD.

So will I have to uninstall Ubuntu from inside Ubuntu or can I do that within Windows?

Quote from sam93 :

So how will I go about choosing what OS to run. On start up will it ask me whether I want to run Vista or Ubuntu?

I will uninstall it after it has finished then and install it using the CD.

So will I have to uninstall Ubuntu from inside Ubuntu or can I do that within Windows?

On startup it'll ask you which OS to boot. Uninstalling is as simple as using Add/Remove Programs - there'll be an entry for Ubuntu in there.

Quote from sam93 :

So how will I go about choosing what OS to run. On start up will it ask me whether I want to run Vista or Ubuntu?

in easy terms: yes. Exactly that. The fun is in the detail: it will use the Vista-built-in boot-manager (which you normally don't really "see" on start-up), in order to to achieve this.

Quote :

I will uninstall it after it has finished then and install it using the CD.

So will I have to uninstall Ubuntu from inside Ubuntu or can I do that within Windows?

Actually if it works well, I recommend you to stick to the Wubi for the first 1 or 2 weeks. Fell free to get to know the thing first. Then you can still opt for a native install. It's just the size of the Wubi-generated file and the lack of a swap-partition that will likely set the limit for your first hands-on experience. It will however most-likely still run a whole lot faster than putting it inside a "virtual machine".

I'd say, with a little experience comes the further application of your new Ubuntu.

Quote from JohnUK89 :

On startup it'll ask you which OS to boot. Uninstalling is as simple as using Add/Remove Programs - there'll be an entry for Ubuntu in there.

K, cheers. Just have to see whether it will pick up my partition I have made for it when I go to install the OS using the CD. If not I will have to put it on my failing hard drive for a bit until I know if I am allowed a 40gb hard drive out of an old PC lol.

How do I know what the partition will be called when installing from the CD because it calls each partition something like SDE1 and so on.

Quote from sam93 :

How do I know what the partition will be called when installing from the CD because it calls each partition something like SDE1 and so on.

Ideally if you didn't already know the layout of your drives you should have written it down when you created the partition (Note: a partition created by Windows is not bootable by Linux usually - especially NTFS. You'll want to create an ext3 one usually as well as a Linux swap partition unless you have heaps of RAM)

This is what my partitions look like:
http://www.lfsforum.net/attachment.p...1&d=1231802020

I have came up with an idea. If I install Ubuntu on my old failing hard drive and then copy all the files over from the old hard drive to a partition on my current hard drive, would it work or not?

Also when creating partitions in Disk Management, you can only create NTFS partitions. How do I go about creating a ext3 partition and a Linux Swap partition?

Quote from sam93 :

How do I know what the partition will be called when installing from the CD because it calls each partition something like SDE1 and so on.

that's exactly the reason why I suggest you start by using the Wubi-install first. Knowledge will come through using it rather than ask every single question seperately.

as for the device-names:

sde stands for SCSI-DISK-x whereas the "e" defines the logical number of the disk or the logical connector that disc is attached to on the motherboard. The partition-naming scheme is 1..4 for primary partitions and 5..256 for anything within a logical partition. Even if you had only 1 primary and 1 extended partition (the extended one containing logical partitions) the first logial one following would get the number 5

edit: so "sde5" would be the first logical partition on the hard-driv connected to the 5th logical connector on your MB


Although you might not have a SCSI but rather a SATA-system, recent kernels have discontinued stand-alone ATA-support and now use libATA connected to the SCSI-subsystem of the kernel.

so sda would be the first connector of the first controller, sdb the second connector of the first controller and so forth.

scd0 scd1 scd.... on the other hand stand for optical drives.


See... ...these are things that can easily be recognised when reading one of thousands of beginners articles - and precisely the reason why WUBI seems to have been created for novices.

Quote from sam93 :

This is what my partitions look like:
http://www.lfsforum.net/attachment.p...1&d=1231802020

I have came up with an idea. If I install Ubuntu on my old failing hard drive and then copy all the files over from the old hard drive to a partition on my current hard drive, would it work or not?

Your partition layout is simple - only one drive actually has partitions on it. Use the partitioning tool in the installer (click on Manual partitioning) and create an ext3 partition (make sure it's a logical partition, it should automatically create the Extended to contain it inside), give it mount point / and then create a Linux Swap partition. The size of the swap partition would depend on the amount of RAM you have - if you have over 2GB then realistically you shouldn't need a swap partition at all, but if you plan to hibernate you'll need one that's at least as big as the amount of RAM you have

Quote from JohnUK89 :

Your partition layout is simple - only one drive actually has partitions on it. Use the partitioning tool in the installer (click on Manual partitioning) and create an ext3 partition (make sure it's a logical partition, it should automatically create the Extended to contain it inside), give it mount point / and then create a Linux Swap partition. The size of the swap partition would depend on the amount of RAM you have - if you have over 2GB then realistically you shouldn't need a swap partition at all, but if you plan to hibernate you'll need one that's at least as big as the amount of RAM you have

What do you mean by mount point?

Sorry for asking so many question...

Wubi has finished installing, on start up it asks what OS I want to use

I have 3GB of ram, so would I need a swap partition as I never set my computers to hibernate lol.

If you really NEVER want to use hibernation, then you can do without a swap-partition. However, if you ever use programs that will NEED more than 3 Gigs of RAM it is safer to use one about the size of the additional (virtual) RAM needed.

In other words: not very necessary in your case

Quote from sam93 :

What do you mean by mount point?

Sorry for asking so many question...

A mount point is where the partition will be shown as on the system - similar to how you have a C:\ partition in Windows, Linux has / as it's "root" folder. Everything else is under that, including other partitions, which Ubuntu typically mounts under the /media folder. If you're still unsure, have a look at http://www.freeos.com/articles/3102/ - it may still be slightly over your head but it covers all the basics of how the Linux (and other Unix-based stuff) hierarchical mounting stuff works

Ah okay, I think I understand now. just hope it will allow me to install Linux on it's own dedicated partition I will use Wubi for the meantime whilst I get a better understanding on installing Ubuntu to a partition

Thanks for your help & advice guys.

so it would be wise to take a peek there.
As for me, I am almost asleep.
Wish you success, mate!
Have fun and don't keep yourself busy with the first install for too long. It most-likely will serve you just fine for a long time since modern distros are really sorted-out quite nicely for the standard-install. Just click yourself through some of the community-supplied articles & guides for the fine-tune and make sure you join your favourite ubuntu-related community for further in-detail questions and such.

Welcome to the community of free software users (not necessarily always -experts )

DrBen

Quote from sam93 :

Ah okay, I think I understand now. just hope it will allow me to install Linux on it's own dedicated partition I will use Wubi for the meantime whilst I get a better understanding on installing Ubuntu to a partition

Thanks for your help & advice guys.

Using Wubi is the best idea until you're comfortable enough to install it in a real partition. If you want to transfer your Wubi installation to a real partition then I'd read up on LVPM (Loopmounted Virtual Partition Manager), which can automate the job of doing so.

Quote from JohnUK89 :

(Note: a partition created by Windows is not bootable by Linux usually - especially NTFS. You'll want to create an ext3 one usually as well as a Linux swap partition unless you have heaps of RAM)

FAT32 is native bootable, NTFS is bootable (AFAIK you can include FUSE NTFS-3G in kernel).

Wubi will make your ubuntu slower than usually, but... whatever.

i thought i heard ntfs write support was still spotty at best...

Quote from Shadowww :

FAT32 is native bootable, NTFS is bootable (AFAIK you can include FUSE NTFS-3G in kernel).

Wubi will make your ubuntu slower than usually, but... whatever.

FUSE is userland by definition, so no you can't include NTFS-3G in a kernel image (Maybe you could include the read-only driver in a kernel image then pass over later on in the boot process?). FAT32 is bootable under certain circumstances but is certainly not recommended. You're much better off sticking to the native filesystems.

And Wubi will slow it down a bit, yes, but only on filesystem-intensive stuff. General usage should be fine with it.

Quote from bunder9999 :

i thought i heard ntfs write support was still spotty at best...

Things improve. It should be stable enough for normal use now.

1) with your current partition table you wont be able to create a root + swap partition anyway
2) i dont want to sound too harsh but if partitioning has you puzzled your linux user experience wont be enjoyable

Quote from wien :

Things improve. It should be stable enough for normal use now.

for a dual boot machine a ext3 driver for windows is probably the better way to share drives

Isn't the Windows ext2/3 driver read only? I seem to remember the one I installed the last time was. Either way, if the partition in meant for sharing files between OSes, FAT32 is probably the safest bet.

The alternate CD is a lot better for setting up the partition for myself.

I know have it installed on it's seperate partition.

Just have to install my WiFi adapter on Ubuntu now and start downloading some software.