Set up Ubuntu directly from a computer without needing a flash drive or CD.
Set up Ubuntu directly from a computer without needing a flash drive or CD.
I understand the situation. Since the old method with wubi.exe isn’t available anymore, and you haven’t used any disks recently, you might try using a virtual machine or a lightweight USB installation tool to get Ubuntu running inside Windows.
I'm actually more interested in finding a method to install from within Windows.
I explored some options over the weekend. Could I set up GNU/Linux on a brand-new machine with an empty SSD without connecting a monitor? The best approach seems to be preparing a clean image with dd before installing it on the drive. Once Windows is installed, you could create a separate partition and switch between the two systems yourself. You’d essentially handle the boot configuration manually afterward.
Set up separate partitions and install Ubuntu on one of them. Dual booting should work smoothly.
I own a vintage laptop from 2000, the Dell c600. It won't boot from USB and I've lost my CD-ROM drive. To get Linux running, I had to transfer it from another operating system. I installed Arch Linux using Arch Linux itself. It's straightforward—just mount the storage location and install Arch. Check out this tutorial video for guidance.
Absolutely straightforward—it just takes time and a willingness to go through all 51 minutes of guides for the first time. It’s surprising how many people avoid a straightforward GUI installer because they expect complicated setup. A clever point: distros can be tough to set up, which keeps some beginners away until you see what Linus has to say.
You can set up a partition on your hard drive, send it to a virtual machine as a real disk, execute the live image inside the VM and install Ubuntu onto the physical drive. This might lead to driver problems, but using Mesa graphics drivers should help maintain functionality after a reboot. You'll also need to adjust the boot loader settings.