If you’re looking for Ubuntu dual boot with Microsoft Windows, then this article contains all explanation step by step.
A dual boot system gives you the best of both worlds. It works by prompting you at startup to select which operating system you’d like to load into. So, you’ll have to reboot your computer each time you want to load into a different operating system.
Requirements for dual boot
Installed Microsoft Windows
Partition for Ubuntu
USB drive that contains Ubuntu OS
Here are the steps;
Boot your USB drive
After booting into the Ubuntu installation, you’ll be presented with the traditional prompts. On the first one, select “Install Ubuntu.”
Select your keyboard layout and click continue.
The “Updates and other software” options are up to you. Usually, though, you’ll want a normal installation along with the updates and third-party software. Those options save you time and hassle later on.
This is the part that makes installation alongside Windows 10 different from a normal installation. The Ubuntu installer automatically detects that we have a pre-existing Windows 10 installation on our system, so there’s really nothing fancy we need to do here, except make sure the “Install Ubuntu alongside Windows 10” option is selected before clicking on continue.
Next, you get to decide which hard drive you’d like to install Ubuntu to. If you choose to install it to the same drive as Windows 10, Ubuntu will allow you to shrink that pre-existing Windows partition and make room for the new operating system. Alternatively, if you have multiple hard drives, you can choose to keep the two installations completely separate and select a different drive for Ubuntu at the top of the window. You should try to allocate a minimum of 10 GB to your Ubuntu install. You can drag the divider left and right to choose how you want to divide your hard drive space between the two operating systems. Notice the Windows installation is formatted with NTFS and the Ubuntu installation with ext4. Click “install now” when you feel good about your space allocation.
Ubuntu warns us that it’s going to make some irreversible changes to our hard drive in the form of resizing the pre-existing partition for Windows 10/11.
Another warning about the changes about to be made. Click continue once more.
The next couple prompts will ask some general questions about your timezone and a username and password. Fill all this out and be prepared to wait a little while as the installer resizes the hard drive partitions and installs Ubuntu.
When it’s finished installing, you’ll be asked to reboot the system. Then, you’ll be able to select which operating system to boot into.
