Installing Ubuntu on Windows 11 Dual Boot
Alright mate, now the real fun begins—getting Ubuntu sorted alongside Windows 11 on the same machine. It’s not rocket science, but it’s not exactly a walk in the park either. The idea is to set up a dual-boot system so you can choose which one to run at startup without too much faffing about. If you’ve dabbled with partitioning drives before, this will feel a bit familiar. If not, fair dinkum, there’s a bit of a learning curve. Take your time and stay patient; it’s a bit of a ride, but you’ll get there.
Back it up, no worries
Before you start, make sure you back up everything you value—seriously, everything. Installing a new OS can be unpredictable, and no one wants to lose their files because they skipped this step. Grab an external drive, USB stick, or use cloud storage—whatever works for ya. Doing this upfront can save you heaps of trouble down the track. Trust me, many blokes and sheilas have learnt this the hard way, so don’t skip it.
Making space for Ubuntu
Next up, you’ll need to free up some room for Ubuntu—your Windows partition isn’t going to grow on its own. Open up the Disk Management tool (just search for diskmgmt.msc in the Start menu), then shrink your Windows partition. Usually, giving Ubuntu at least 20GB is fair dinkum, but more’s better if you plan on using it heaps. This part can get a bit tense if you’re worried about stuffing things up. Also, leave enough space for Windows to run smoothly—otherwise, it might chug. If the shrink option doesn’t work straight away because of system files, give your drive a quick defrag by opening Optimize Drives from the start menu and hitting Optimize.
Downloading Ubuntu
Now, head over to the Ubuntu website and grab the latest ISO. Make sure to pick the right version—64-bit’s the standard these days, but if you’ve got older tech, 32-bit might still be hanging around. The file’s a fair size, so a decent internet connection helps. Once downloaded, double-check you’ve got the right architecture—getting it wrong is a classic mistake. It’s easy to just click and forget, but double-checking saves a lot of hassle.
Creating the bootable USB
With your ISO ready, it’s time to make that USB stick bootable. Rufus is a good choice—free and simple to use. Plug in an 8GB (or bigger) USB, open Rufus, select your ISO, and hit start (rufus.exe). It shouldn’t take long, but it depends on your USB speed. Be careful, though; if you pick the wrong drive, you could wipe something important. For Partition scheme, choose GPT if your system uses UEFI (which is standard with Windows 11), and set Target system to UEFI (non-CSM). If it’s your first time, there might be some trial and error—disabling Secure Boot or Fast Boot in the BIOS might be necessary. You can usually do this by heading into Settings > Security > Secure Boot. Your motherboard manual can be handy here.
Installing Ubuntu
Once the USB’s ready, restart your PC. To boot from that USB, you’ll typically tap F12, F10, Esc, or a similar key right after switching on. You might need to poke into the BIOS/UEFI setup by pressing Del or F2, so you can set the USB as the first boot option. If Secure Boot or Fast Boot are on, turn them off briefly. When Ubuntu loads up, follow the prompts. Pick “Install Ubuntu alongside Windows Boot Manager” when asked how you want to set it up. If that’s not an option, choose Something else, then manually partition—format it as ext4 and set ‘/’ as the mount point. You’ll also need to set your timezone, username, and password—don’t forget these, as you’ll need them to log in later.
After installation finishes, your system will ask to reboot. When it does, you should see a menu called GRUB offering a choice between Windows and Ubuntu. If it doesn’t show up, you might have to run sudo update-grub in Ubuntu or double-check your BIOS boot order. Sometimes you need to switch your boot mode to UEFI in the BIOS for everything to play nice with GRUB.
Heads up: The whole process isn’t always straightforward—especially if your hardware is a bit tricky or you’re not used to fiddling with BIOS/UEFI settings. Sometimes boot issues pop up or you’ll need to do some post-install tweaks. No worries though, it happens to most of us, and a quick search will usually find you an answer. Community forums are a great help when things go pear-shaped.
Great work setting up the dual-boot system! Now you’ve got the best of both worlds right at your fingertips. And every time you switch on your PC, you’ll choose whether to go Windows 11 or Ubuntu—beauty!