If you don’t have an idea of what Linux is, it is one of the best family or group of open-source operating systems used today by a lot of companies and individuals. It is a type of software that sits just below all of the other software installed on a computer. Linux receives requests from other software, sending these requests to the hardware of the computer. It is free to download and based on the Linux kernel. You can either install it on a Windows computer or on a Mac.
If you want to install the Linux software in your Windows 10 computer but don’t have any idea how to do it, then you’re in the right place. Read on to know the step by step guide on how to install Linux on Windows 10.
Partition Your Hard Drive in Windows 10
You have to make a hard drive space for Linux 10 if you want to boot both Windows and Linux so you can be able to use it live. The main hard drive should be partitioned first before dual booting so both of them have enough space. Partitioning just simply means you are splitting the external hard drive into two types of formats – one for Windows computer and one for Mac.
Here’s the step by step guide.
1. In the Windows search box, type the word “diskmgmt.msc”. Hit enter afterward. If you don’t know where the Windows search box is located, it is in the bottom left corner of the screen, with a magnifying glass icon.
2. Go to your external hard drive and do a right-click. Select Shrink Volume when a pop-up menu appears. Reformat the drive to NTFS if ever this option isn’t available on your computer.
3. Enter how much you would want to shrink your hard drive’s volume. Set aside 20 GB or more for your Linux software.
4. Click the Shrink button once you have set and decided the volume that you want to shrink. Make sure to choose the drive that says Primary Partition if you have more than one drive on your computer. The usual name of it is the C: drive.
Linux Bootable USB Creation
You have to write a Linux Distro onto the external hard drive that has a size of 4GB or more or write it onto a USB thumb. Here’s how to make a Linux bootable USB.
1. On your computer, download the Linux Distro. Make sure to download the ISO format of it. If you don’t have an idea of what ISO file is, it is an image disk, with top options such as Fedora, Ubuntu, or Mint. Go to each distribution’s main website to download this ISO file – it’s free. In this tutorial, we have decided to use Ubuntu.
2. Into your computer’s USB hub, insert your USB flash drive. When you do this, formatting your drive might be required so make sure to make a backup of all your computer files and data, especially the important ones, before you start the formatting process because it will be wiped out once formatting starts.
3. Once done, download Rufus. It is an open-source application for Windows, which is also free to download. You can use it to create and format bootable Live USBs or USB flash drives.
4. When the download is done, launch the Rufus app. A device list will appear when you open it. Look for the name of your USB drive and click it. Eject all other drives connected to your computer if you don’t know which drive to use so that it can be easier for you to choose.
5. In the Drive Properties menu, go to the Boot Selection option. On the right side under it, click the Select button. Select the IOS file that you have downloaded. Other default settings in the Drive Properties menu should not be changed.
6. Once everything is done, click Start. Choose ISO if a pop-up notification appears and asks you to choose a mode that you want to use to create an image. Rufus will mount your ISO file to your drive, it may take a couple of minutes.
Be patient if the progress bar gets stuck, mounting might take some time. Remember to back up any important files before doing all these steps because it will erase all data and files on the process.
Install Linux from USB
If your Linux Distro in already in the USB flash drive, you can now install it. Here’s how.
1. On your computer, insert the bootable Linux USB flash drive that you’ve created earlier.
2. Click the Windows Start menu located at the bottom-left corner of your computer screen.
3. Restart your computer. Click the Restart button and press the Shift key. You will be redirected to the Windows Recovery Environment.
4. The Choose an Option panel will appear on your screen. Select the Use a Device option.
5. A list of devices will appear in the Use a Device menu. Look for the Linux option. Choose EFI USB Device if you can’t see the name of your drive on the menu. You will be redirected to another screen that shows the options for EFI USB Device. Pick your drive in it.
6. The Linux will now be booted by your computer. You might have to change the settings you’ve made in your BIOS or there might be an issue with your drive if your computer happens to reboot Windows.
7. Once done, select Install Linux.
8. The installation process will now proceed. It will depend on what type of distro you are installing. The details might include language, keyboard layout, time zone, Wifi network, and more. Other than that, you might also be prompted to make an account with a password and username in it. You will need it in the future so make sure to write all the important details down.
9. Mostly, distros allow you to erase your drive or make a partition to your hard drive. During the installation, you can also do a clean install.
10. Once done, you need to reboot your computer as prompted. After rebooting, you will be taken to a GNU GRUB screen if you have more than one OS in your system. GNU GRUB will help you choose which OS should be booted.
You can try to move your Linux distro on top of your BIOS’ boot list if you can’t find the GNU GRUB screen when booting up. Once you’re done with everything, make sure to do a hardware check. Additional drivers should be downloaded in some cases so that some hardware can work properly.
If new drivers need to be downloaded, you can go to the System Settings of your newly-installed Linux OS to download them one by one. You can start using and exploring your new Linux distro after verifying that your hardware and all drivers are working properly.
