How to install Ubuntu 20.04 along with Windows 10 on HP Notebook
I have a HP Notebook (EliteBook G3) with Windows 10 Pro. Recently I decide to install Ubuntu 20.04 along with it. In this article, I will keep an record of the procedure with the hope that it will be useful for you as well.
Step 1: turn off bitlocker encryption windows 10.
Windows provides bitlocker encryption function, and when it is enabled, it is impossible to install Linux and Windows in the same physical disk. The solution to this problem is to disable bitlocker encryption function, which is done in the following steps in Windows:
- launch Windows command line program (CMD) with administration permission
- manage-bde -off C: it will disable bitlocerk encryption on disk C, whose physical disk will be used for Ubuntu.
- manage-bde -status: it will show the status of all the disks when it comes to bitlocker encryption. Wait until the disk where you are going to install Ubuntu is encryption-free.
Step 2: shrink the Windows disk so that you can allocate enough space for Ubuntu.
Disk shrinking is used to allocate disk space for the installed Ubuntu system. This function is provided by Windows 10. Please see How To Shrink The Hard Disk Partition In Windows 10 for more details.
Step 3: create a bootable USB.
The most common way of installing Ubuntu is via a boostable USB, where the Ubuntu ISO image (22.04 TLS in our case)is kept. The ISO image file can be downloaded from the Ubuntu official website, and the bootable USB can be generated by a software called Rufus. Unlike other bootable USB software, Rufus does not require that the USB format must be FAT32. Therefore, the bootable USB can be a mobile disk as well. The disk requirement for the USB is 32G.
Step 4: change BIOS boot priority, and boot from USB.
When we want to install Ubuntu from Windows and reboot the machine, we should make sure that the Ubuntu installation program will be first invoked. In order to fulfill this target, we should understand BIOS boot priority: which disk will be invoked first? Different computers/notebooks have different ways of setting BIOS disk boot priority, and in the case of HP EliteBook we just need to press ESC when we reboot our machine, and then a screen will pop up, where we can press F9 to select which disk we want to boot first. We will choose the bootable USB as want to launch Ubuntu installation program immediately.
Step 5: install Ubuntu, and customize the Ubuntu settings.
The following settings should be customized:
- Google Chrome Tab size: settings →accessibility →large texts
Step 6: install programs for your Ubuntu.
Bonus