How do i install Ubuntu in my laptop already loaded with vista without losing data?
My laptop came with preloaded vista and no partitions were made.I already have an ubuntu installation disk and wish to run both operating systems on my system. Is it possible to directly load ubuntu and be able to run both simultaneously without re -installing vista after loading ubuntu/creating backup disks ,etc?Is the software ‘partition magic’ helpful for this purpose?why/why-not?can u recommend any other software ?
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4 Responses to “How do i install Ubuntu in my laptop already loaded with vista without losing data?”
Comment from Wayne B
Time July 5, 2009 at 5:58 pm
Ubuntu 8.10 came as an ISO that you could burn to a disk and boot off. This came in handy because atleast in my particular version it gave me a choice between dual booting (keeping both Ubuntu and Vista installed but offering a choice which to boot from) and giving Ubuntu a fresh install. So try booting off the cd and see if you can find that option. If not use a software like partition magic to create a partition and then just make sure to install on that specific partition. 
Comment from stauffen
Time July 7, 2009 at 11:27 am
well if you wish to run both operating systems you can do a thing called a dual boot. with a dual boot, you edit the bootloader to recognize that there are two operating systems. then at start up you choose which one you want. they have many many guides to do this online.
OR. if you would like to run both simultaneously (without rebooting) you should check out a thing called “VMware”.
Comment from gonecaca
Time July 10, 2009 at 2:00 pm
just pop your ubuntu disc in, during the ubuntu setup process, it will ask you to resize your partition, just make a new partition for ubuntu and it will automatically resize everything for you
Comment from prr
Time July 2, 2009 at 8:53 am
Yes all of this is possible. I suppose Partition Magic can do it, but you can also do this with Paragon Partition Manager–you can d/l it for a free 30-day grace period (no cc info or payments needed).
What you have to do first is shrink your Vista partition. I’d copy all my files just in case…. when you have shrunk it, then format the empty space, and then you can create a new partition adn install Ubuntu on it. A Ubuntu partition can read files (as in documents, not run a program) on a Vista partition.
Paragon can do all of that for you.