Wubi = super easy Linux installation
- October 25th, 2007
- Read 3029 times
- 6 Comments
Linux, to me, is like all the girls in college when you’re still dating a girl from back home. Free, good looking, easy to use, and with a lot of cool, unique features and abilities. After a while, though, you end up missing what’s familiar to you so you head back to what’s comfortable even though it’s expensive, unstable, and needs constant tweaking to keep things running smoothly.
I don’t have the patience to go through a full install of Ubuntu but I also don’t think that running the Live CD does the operating system justice. If only there were an easy-to-use Windows installer that didn’t "require you to modify the partitions of your PC or to use a different bootloader." Enter Wubi.
Here’s some more information from Wubi’s FAQs…
"How does Wubi work?
Wubi adds an entry to the Windows boot menu which allows you to run Linux. Ubuntu is installed within a file in the windows file system (c:\wubi\disks\system.virtual.disk), this file is seen by Linux as a real hard disk.
Is this running Ubuntu within a virtual environment or something similar?
No. This is a real installation, the only difference is that Ubuntu is installed within a file as opposed to being installed within its own partition. Thus we spare you the trouble to create a free partition for Ubuntu. And we spare you the trouble to have to burn a CD-Rom.
What is the performance?
The performance is identical to a standard installation, except for hard-disk access which is slightly slower. If your hard disk is very fragmented the performance will degenerate. However, once the Ubuntu install created by Wubi has been transferred to a dedicated partition using LVPM, the hard drive access speed will be identical to that of a standard Ubuntu installation."
So basically, you have a very-nearly complete installation of Linux that you can easily commit to by using LVPM. If you decide it’s not for you, simply uninstall Wubi under Add/Remove Programs just like you would any other software.
Jen (Who am I?)
8 months ago
I’ve tried wubi on several different systems and it never worked for me. It booted into a completely black screen. I was excited about it till it didn’t work. Even when you uninstall wubi it leaves the dual boot turd when starting up.
n2 (Who am I?)
8 months ago
I really good linux installation is not reducing the windows partition size it’s deleting windows partitions…
I have never heard about wubi. I think it’s easier to install a real Ubuntu since Ubuntu is reducing NTFS partition sizes.
wil (Who am I?)
8 months ago
i’ve been using wubi for some time. it convinced me to switch to linux. i would migrate via lvpm but you need another free partition to do.
i should mention two things though. upgrading wubi from ubuntu 7.04 to 7.10 causes some issues at this point. and awhile ago i toasted my windows bootup file. i couldn’t bootup by selecting linux. it would seem wubi still uses windows’ boot.ini to boot linux.
and jen you should be able to remove the “dual boot turd” by simply editing your boot.ini file.
Spanish Monk (Who am I?)
8 months ago
Wil I have been trying to run wubi but I also get the blank screen at bootup like Jen.. At first it started to run the sequence after selecting Ubuntu but then after I turned my back it just went blank.. Not to mention this distro says it is a fast and easy install.. Just get a cup of coffee and come back and poof in is finished, sadly I came back and it was downloading a full CD if info from the net and then proceeded to install VERY SLOW AND LABORIOUS not exactly the qick cup of coffee they advertise. I hope someone can help me find why this is going blank at boot.. I already have my 2 hard drives partitioned and should have just stuck regular ubuntu on one of those.. BTW Will wubi work on a FAT 32? Linux ext3? any suggestions other than uninstalling and never looking back? Thanks Joe
Spanish Monk (Who am I?)
8 months ago
When I select ubuntu over windows I get this and the whle process just freezes
booting ‘find/wubi/boot/grub/menu. lst’
being a Linux newbie I dont have a clue.. though I have messed around with ‘live’ versions and now i finally decide to install and this happens..
qeqe (Who am I?)
7 months ago
very easy to install Oh yes
but I cannot use it
In the beginning a password is asked
after installation the password is not recognized
also the keyboard is changed from azerty to qwerty
I had no way to change this (although this was promised in the publicity)