Problem Description:
I have Windows 11 Pro. I am trying to install Ubuntu 24.04. My “instructions” print out from the internet says I need Rufus or Etcher to create a bootable USB drive. I’ve download Etcher but all it does is open a folder with a bunch of sub folders. How do you actually use it?
Relevant System Information:
My computer is a 2020 Dell Vostro. I have an SSD 256 main disk. I have also installed my old HHD 1T as a secondary drive. I am working out of the Windows 11 Pro OS.
What I’ve Tried:
I’ve backed up what files I have. My system uses UEFI, and Legacy is disabled in BIOS. I’ve disabled BitLocker and turned off Fast Startup.
I have downloaded Ubuntu 24.04 from the site. I guess I am lost as to how to enable it to start actually working.
I downloaded Rufus but it got lost. Downloaded Etcher and it is in the downloads folder and will only open the file and show sub files…!? Why can’t I just open the app to let it work for me? My understanding is that I need it to create a boot up USB stick.
The next step my “instructions” say is to ensure USB boot is enabled in BIOS/UEFI and to disable Secure Boot only if the USB won’t boot…? I know a fair amount about a computer but some of this is almost IT level, so I’m needing direction or a better way to install Ubuntu 24.04.
You d/l ubuntu2404.iso on your win11. Insert a clean usb stick to your pc, you will see it in windows explorer. Right click on the iso, select burn, and point to the usb.
Rufus is just another program that allows you to write an iso to a usb stick. There are many online guides and YT videos to get familiar with rufus.
I would suggest booting from the usb, just try ubuntu (not install) till you get familiar.
Balena Etcher is a 3-step tool (just like they show in the animation):
Select the ISO file to be written;
Select the target DRIVE to be written
Flash! (extracts and writes the ISO contents on the target drive)
So, first of all, download a good copy of the ISO you want to use. For Ubuntu 24.04 you should obtain it from here: Download Ubuntu Desktop | Ubuntu . Make sure you save it somewhere you promptly remember (e.g. in the Downloads folder). Then open Balena Etcher (assuming it is already installed; otherwise install it and then open), select the ISO by navigating to the folder where you saved it - it should be something like “ubuntu-24.04.4-desktop-amd64.iso”. Next select the target drive, the USB stick you want to use for live/installation media (be extremely careful at this stage because you don’t want to write the ISO to the WRONG drive as it’ll delete everything and overwrite it). Finally press Flash to start the process. Be patient, it may take several minutes, the software will inform you when it’s done, do nothing meanwhile.
Now the live/installation media is ready you can use it to boot a live session from and/or install Ubuntu.
Rufus follows the same logic but has many (arguably) unnecessary options that can be overwhelming for users unfamiliar with those concepts. Balena Etcher is a fool-proof tool that does is in just 1-2-3 steps.
Things to know:
You want to choose the fastest drive(s) for OS/software installation whenever possible;
For dual-booting with Windows you want to use WINDOWS native tools to make room for the second OS, i.e., use Disk Management to shrink the Windows system partition (typically the “C:\ drive” and/or others, if applicable);
The amount of unallocated space you get from the previous step is limited by the size of the drive and the way Windows writes files in its system partition; Try to get at least 100GB unallocated for better results (personal opinion, there’s a minimum requirement but keeping to that won’t give you “breathing room” to install all the programs you may eventually want)
Keep in mind to select the option to “Install alongside…” that will be presented by the installer at some point, the installer will do everything automatically for you.
In some cases you’ll need to open UEFI (“BIOS”) settings > Boot menu (“OS selection” or similar) and select “Ubuntu” in order to boot the GRUB menu where the default option will be “Ubuntu” but “Windows Bootloader manager” is also an option.
For dual-boot you MUST boot with the Ubuntu’s Bootloader (GRUB) because Windows cannot boot anything else other than Windows (“itself” or another parallel Windows installation).
When dual-booting with Windows, disabling its “Fast Startup” “feature” it’s a MUST!
All the above assumes you’re familiar with the most typical/traditional method of installing software in Windows (RE: Balena Etcher)… Important note: You need to download the installer for the OS you’ll be using it, Windows in this case. So, the Balena’s installer for Windows ends in .exe . Just double-click and the guided installation should pop-up.
This, of course, is tangential and unrelated to Ubuntu, it’s just a note about how to install the tool you need (Balena Etcher) in your running OS (Windows) so you can use it to create the live/installation media you’ll boot from and then install Ubuntu. Posted as an addendum because re-reading your original post I suspect you downloaded the wrong Balena Etcher installer and having difficulties just because of that. Please ignore this post if I’m wrong.
I recommend you resize the NTFS in Windows to make unpartitioned space. You can then install Ubuntu to the space. Be sure to backup any important data before starting any of this.
Back up files, make a bootable USB with Ubuntu 24.04, shrink Windows to create unallocated space, disable Fast Startup (and BitLocker), boot the USB, pick “Something else” in installer, create an ext4 root (30–50GB) and optional /home and swap if desired, install GRUB to the Windows disk (use existing EFI on UEFI systems), finish install, reboot and pick OS from GRUB, update Ubuntu and install drivers; if GRUB missing use BIOS boot-order or Boot Repair.
