When Something Goes Wrong

Chapter 5 — The Installation Process

Your USB stick is written, your data is backed up, and you've confirmed the live session boots correctly. Now it's time to install. This chapter walks through the full installation step by step using Ubuntu 24.04 LTS as the reference — it's the most widely used distro and its installer is representative of what you'll find on Linux Mint and most Debian-based systems. Differences for Linux Mint, Fedora, and Debian are noted at the end.

1. The Live Session

When you boot from the USB stick, Ubuntu gives you a choice: Try Ubuntu or Install Ubuntu. Always choose Try Ubuntu first.

The live session boots into a fully functional Ubuntu desktop running entirely from the USB stick. Nothing is written to your hard drive at this point. Use this opportunity to:

• Check WiFi — click the network icon in the top-right corner. If your WiFi networks appear and you can connect, it will work after installing.
• Check sound — open a video in Firefox or play audio via the Files app.
• Check display resolution — it should match your monitor's native resolution. If it's wrong, it may need attention after installing (covered in Chapter 6).
• Test the touchpad (laptops) — scroll, tap, and two-finger scroll.

Once you're satisfied everything works, find the "Install Ubuntu" icon on the desktop or in the application menu and double-click it to launch the installer.

2. The Ubuntu Installer — Step by Step

• 1
  Language selection. The installer opens with a language picker. Select your language and click Next.
• 2
  Accessibility. Ubuntu 24.04 includes an accessibility options screen — screen reader, large text, high contrast. Configure these if needed, or click Next to skip.
• 3
  Keyboard layout. The installer usually detects your keyboard correctly. Verify by typing a few characters — especially any special keys that differ between layouts (@ symbol, £ sign, accented characters). Click Next.
• 4
  Network connection. If you're connected to WiFi or Ethernet, the installer will offer to download updates during installation. If you have a fast connection, tick "Download updates while installing Ubuntu" — it saves a step after install. If your connection is slow or metered, skip it and update afterwards.
• 5
  Type of installation — Normal or Minimal. Ubuntu 24.04 offers two options:
  
  

  Ubuntu installer — Applications

  Default selection — includes a web browser, office suite, media player, and common utilities. Recommended for most users.

  Extended selection — adds additional office tools and media applications. Choose if you want a fuller suite out of the box.

  Choose Default selection unless you specifically want the extras. You can always install more software afterwards.
• 6
  Third-party software and drivers. You'll see a checkbox: "Install recommended proprietary software". Tick this — it enables installation of NVIDIA drivers, WiFi firmware, and multimedia codecs (MP3 playback, H.264 video) that can't ship as open-source. Without it, some hardware and media won't work immediately after install.
• 7
  Partitioning — the most important screen. See Section 3 below for a detailed explanation of the options here. For most people: if dual-booting, choose "Install Ubuntu alongside Windows"; if doing a full install, choose "Erase disk and install Ubuntu".
• 8
  Time zone. The installer shows a world map. Click your location or type your city. This sets your system clock and the time zone used for scheduled tasks.
• 9
  Create your user account.

  Ubuntu installer — Your account

  Your name

  Philip Osztromok

  Your full name — used for display purposes

  Computer name

  philip-laptop

  How this machine identifies itself on the network. No spaces; lowercase.

  Username

  philip

  Your login name. Lowercase letters, numbers, hyphens only. This cannot easily be changed later.

  Password

  ••••••••••••

  Use a strong password — this account has administrator (sudo) access to the system

  Choose your username carefully — it becomes your home directory name (/home/philip) and is used throughout the system. It cannot be easily changed after installation.
• 10
  Review and confirm. Ubuntu 24.04 shows a summary screen listing all your choices before making any changes to your disk. Read through it carefully — especially the partitioning section. If anything looks wrong, use the Back button. Click Install when you're satisfied.
• 11
  Installation runs. A progress bar advances as files are copied and configured. This takes 10–20 minutes. The computer does not need your attention during this time. Don't interrupt it or let the laptop battery die.
• 12
  Restart now. When installation completes, a dialog asks you to restart. Click Restart Now. The installer will tell you to remove the USB stick and press Enter — do so. The computer reboots into your new Linux installation.

3. Partitioning Options Explained

The partitioning screen is where most first-timers feel nervous. Here are the options you'll see and when to choose each one.

Using manual partitioning for dual-boot

If "Install alongside Windows" doesn't appear (sometimes happens with unusual disk layouts), use manual partitioning. The unallocated space you freed in Chapter 3 will appear as free space. Create the following partitions in it:

• Root partition (/) — select the free space, click +, set size (minimum 20 GB, ideally 40–50 GB), file system: ext4, mount point: /
• Swap partition — size equal to your RAM (up to 8 GB), file system: swap area
• /home partition (optional) — remaining free space, file system: ext4, mount point: /home
• EFI partition — on UEFI systems, select the existing Windows EFI partition and mark it as "boot" / EFI System Partition without formatting it. Do not create a new one or format the existing one — that would break Windows boot.

4. Full-Disk Encryption (Optional but Recommended for Laptops)

If you select "Erase disk and install Ubuntu" and tick "Encrypt the new Ubuntu installation for security", the entire Linux partition is encrypted using LUKS (Linux Unified Key Setup). A passphrase is set during installation; every time the machine boots, you type this passphrase before Linux loads.

• Benefit: if the laptop is stolen or lost, the data on it cannot be read without the passphrase — even if the thief removes the drive.
• Drawback: forgotten passphrase = unrecoverable data. There is no bypass and no recovery email. Write the passphrase down and store it somewhere safe and offline.
• Performance impact: negligible on modern hardware with AES acceleration.

5. First Boot

After the installer finishes and the machine restarts, you'll see the GRUB boot menu — a text or graphical menu listing all available operating systems. On a dual-boot system this will show Ubuntu and Windows Boot Manager. The default selection (Ubuntu) counts down from 10 seconds and boots automatically if you don't press anything.

Ubuntu loads to a login screen. Enter the password you set during installation.

What you'll see on first login

Ubuntu may launch a welcome screen offering to set up online accounts (Ubuntu One, Google, etc.), configure Ubuntu Pro, and take a quick tour. All of these are optional. You can close the welcome screen immediately if you prefer.

Checking the GRUB menu (dual-boot)

On a dual-boot system, the GRUB menu defaults to Ubuntu. To boot Windows, use the arrow keys to select "Windows Boot Manager" and press Enter. GRUB remembers the last selection by default on some distros — if you find it always boots the wrong OS, you can change the default in /etc/default/grub (covered in Chapter 6).

6. If Something Goes Wrong

Installation problems are rare but they do happen. Here are the most common issues and what to do about them.

"No bootable device found" after installing

The computer can't find a bootloader. Most common cause on UEFI systems: the installer ran in Legacy/BIOS mode but the computer is set to UEFI, or vice versa. Go into UEFI settings and look for a Boot Override or Boot Order section — Ubuntu's GRUB should appear as an entry. If it doesn't, boot from the USB stick again and select "Try Ubuntu", then run boot-repair (install it from the terminal with sudo apt install boot-repair, then run it).

GRUB menu doesn't appear (dual-boot)

Windows Boot Manager may have taken priority over GRUB in the UEFI boot order. Go into UEFI settings, find the Boot Order, and move "ubuntu" above "Windows Boot Manager". Save and restart.

Installation freezes or crashes

Usually caused by a corrupted ISO or a bad USB write. Verify the ISO checksum (Chapter 4), rewrite the USB stick, and try again. If it crashes at the same point repeatedly, check whether your RAM is faulty by running the memory test available in the GRUB menu of the live USB.

"Ubuntu" entry missing from GRUB after a Windows update

Windows updates sometimes overwrite the UEFI boot order. Boot from your Ubuntu USB stick in live mode, open a terminal, and run sudo update-grub after mounting the installed system. The boot-repair tool mentioned above automates this process.

7. Differences for Other Distros

A note on Fedora's Anaconda installer

Fedora uses its own installer called Anaconda, which looks quite different from Ubuntu's. The main difference is that you configure each section (time zone, partitioning, user account) by clicking tiles on a hub screen, rather than stepping through them sequentially. The concepts are identical — it just takes a moment to get used to the layout. Notably, partitioning in Anaconda requires you to click "Done" twice to confirm — easy to miss.

A note on Debian's installer

Debian's installer is text-based and asks more questions than Ubuntu's, including selecting which software groups to install (desktop, web server, etc.). For a desktop install, choose "Debian desktop environment" plus the specific desktop (GNOME, KDE, etc.). Debian also has a separate "non-free firmware" ISO that includes proprietary WiFi and GPU drivers — download that version rather than the standard ISO for the smoothest hardware experience.

Chapter Summary