How to install Ubuntu 18.04 in dual boot alongside Windows 10

This article will show you how you can install Ubuntu 18.04 in dual-boot mode along with Windows 10 step by step.

I’m writing this article out of my experience while installing Ubuntu in dual-boot mode along with Windows 10 Pro. Here I’ve tried to cover all the necessary steps. The installation was performed on a CPU with 500GB HDD, 4GB RAM, 3.5 GHz Intel processor and built-in 2GB Intel graphics and supports both UEFI and BIOS. The procedure mentioned here are also applicable to other versions( Ubuntu 20.04, 17.10, 16.04). I’ve tried to cover installation procedure for both UEFI & BIOS mode machines.

Let’s start!

Login to your Windows 10

Step:1 Create a free space in HDD where Ubuntu will be installed

* If you have several partition in Hard Disk, use any of them except the C Drive (because in case if something messed up, it may erase the data on C drive and then you have to reinstall Windows 10 again) to make some free space for linux. To make free space, Login to your windows machine using an administrative account and then right click on the Start menu>Command prompt(Admin) to enter Windows Command Prompt.

* In Command Prompt, type diskmgmt.msc & Disk Management Utility would open. You can also use other method to open Disk Management Utility. From here, right click on D: or E: partion (any partion except C: .If you only have one partion C: then right click on C: and be cautious) and select Shrink Volume in order to resize the Partition.

* On Shrink D: enter a value on space to shrink in MB (use atleast 25000MB) and click on Shrink to start partion resizing as illustrated. Once the space has been resized you will see a new unallocated space in the hardcdrive. Leave it as default.

Step:2 Cheak the Hard disk Partion Style

Now in the Disk Management, to look the partition style of your Hard Disk, do a right click on the disk and choose the properties

Then go the Volume tab.

If it shows GUID Partition Table then your Hard Disk partion style is GPT.

 

 

If in your case it shows Master Boot Recorder then your Hard Disk partion style is MBR.

 

Step:3 Make a backup

It is always recommended to make a backup, just in case you mess up with the system!

Step:4 Create a bootable USB stick/ Burn a DVD

Now let’s download the Ubuntu 16.04/ 18.04 .iso image of Ubuntu. Go to this link ( click here )

Burn the .iso image on DVD. If you are using USB stick then use the utilities Universal USB Installer ( click here ) or Rufus ( click here ) to make a bootable USB stick.

If your machine uses BIOS mode then use Universal USB Installer. If it uses UEFI mode then use Rufus and use the MBR ( or GPT partion scheme, depending on your HDD partition style) partion scheme to make a bootable USB stick. Actually Rufus can be used both for BIOS & UEFI.

Step:5 Disable fast startup in Windows( you might skip this, I would recommend)

Windows 10 have introduced a new feature called ‘fast startup’ for quick boot. While it’s not mandatory, it’s better to have it disabled.

* Go to Control Panel>Power Options.

* In the Power Options window, click Choose what the power buttons do

You’ll need click Change settings that are currently unavailable to make the Fast Startup option available in order to edit it.

  

Now uncheck it

   

Now press Save changes

Step6: Restart your computer and press the Del / Esc / F11 / F12, to enter into your BIOS. Here in the boot priorities menu select the USB as the first boot device. If your machine use BIOS setup, then choose 

USB Key: JetFlashTranscend (green box) as Boot Option #1. 

Do NOT choose UEFI USB Key: UEFI: JetFlashTranscend (red box). 

If your machine use UEFI setup. then only choose UEFI USB Key: UEFI: JetFlashTranscend (red box).

The Final Boot Menu Setup should look like this:

Zoomed Final List:

Then click on Save changes and Reboot. Let the system to load the OS in RAM.
A Grub menu will appear

Select the option Try Ubuntu without installing.
The system will boot in live mode.




Step 7: Install Ubuntu
Click on the icon Install Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. 
 


 
Choose the language. Click Continue

 

 


Choose Keyboard Layout

 

We are going for full installation. So we will keep the Minimal Installation unchecked and continue.




For manual installation click on Something else and continue.

On this step we’ll create our custom partition layout for Ubuntu 18.04. On this guide will recommend that you create two partitions, one for root and the other for home accounts data and a partition for swap (use a swap partition only if you have limited RAM resources or you use a fast SSD).
To create the root partition select the free space (the shrink space from Windows created earlier) and hit on the + icon below. On partition settings use the following configurations and hit OK to apply changes:

1. Size = at least 15000 MB
2. Type for the new partition = Primary
3. Location for the new partition = Beginning of this space
4. Use as = Ext4 journaling file system
5. Mount point = /

You can make swap partition using the same method. For swap space select 1.5-2 times your RAM size.

1. Size = 6000 MB
2. Use as = swap space

Create the home partition using the same steps as above. Use all the available free space left for home partition size. The partition settings should look like this:

1. Size = all of available free space
2. Type for the new partition = Primary
3. Location for the new partition = Beginning of this space
4. Use as = Ext4 journaling file system
5. Mount point = /home 

 

When finished, hit the Install Now button in order to apply changes to disk and start the installation process.

On the next screen adjust your machine physical location by selecting a city nearby from the map. When done hit Continue to move ahead.

Next, select the keyboard layout and click on Continue.

Pick up a username and password for your administrative sudo account and hit Continue to finalize the installation. This are all the settings required for customizing Ubuntu 18.04 installation. From here on the installation process will run automatically until it reaches the end.

After the installation process ends hit on Restart Now button.

The machine will reboot into the Grub menu, where for ten seconds, you will be presented to choose what OS you wish to use further: Ubuntu 18.04 or Microsoft Windows.
Ubuntu is designated as default OS to boot from. Thus, just press Enter key or wait for those 10 seconds timeout to drain.

After Ubuntu finishes loading, log-in and enjoy it. 

That’s it! In case you need to switch back to Windows, just reboot the computer and select Windows from the Grub menu.




Note: If after installing you encounter any problem, you might consider to read the following article How to fix Grub

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