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everyone,

I just joined the Ubuntu community today & don't have a programming or tech background at all, but found out about Ubuntu several years ago from a friend who recommended it to rejuvenate our old laptop. With his help, we completely removed Windows and installed Ubuntu 16.04. My wife and I both really liked it. Our old laptop finally died and we just bought a new Windows 10 machine. Neither of us had used Windows 10 before buying the computer and we don't like Windows 10 at all, so I found instructions for downloading Ubuntu 18.04. Now that I've done that, I find that I can't do much with Ubuntu with Windows already on the laptop. I found other posts explaining how to install Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) inside Windows 10, and that's what I've done, but with that arrangement, it seems like all I can run is a "piece" of or a "shell" of Ubuntu. It's nothing like the experience we had with our old laptop that didn't have Windows at all, but just Ubuntu. If I completely remove Windows 10, can I run Ubuntu 18.04 and have it work similarly to 16.04 did on our old computer before it finally died? Could that hurt our new computer? Have any of you done it with good results? Thanks for any help.

mikewhatever
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SheepNoodle
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4 Answers4

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Yes, several times.

It's not difficult to do, and it won't break anything. If you are scared about anything, just download or copy the manufacturers "restore" disk that should bring it back to previous state. Also, make sure you back up any files you want to keep. Because you will be deleting everything on the computer and starting from scratch.

Sometimes, the toughest part is getting the system to boot into Ubuntu the first time (make the computer boot from the USB drive before the hard drive). You may have to do this from the boot menu or BIOS/UEFI, right when the computer boot (white text on black background).

Once you do this, piece of cake. Pretty much just hit next through all the prompts. Reformat the hard drive when it asks. Also, try to install when you are connected to a network--it will download the latest software as it installs.

After that, just test the various functionality--make sure everything works. And almost always, everything works flawlessly and automatically. Wifi, the brightness / volume buttons, etc. They should all work. If not, ask the question here.

jenks
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Yes! You can erase Windows 10 and install Ubuntu 18.04 in it's place

The Ubuntu installation USB you will make allowes this. After installing Ubuntu there will be no Windows 10. Any documents, photos, music, videos, etc. you may have in the new laptop will be erased as part of the process. You will need to copy such files to an external hard drive before you start. Once the installation of Ubuntu is done, you can copy the files back in the laptop.

Could that hurt our new computer?

No. Not unless you drop the computer on the floor

However, complete removal of Windows 10 will make it difficult to get warranty service and customer support from the manufacturer. If something in the new computer does not work after you install Ubuntu, either because that component in the new computer is not compatible with Ubuntu, or because the hardware malfunctioned, customer support probably won't know what to tell you to do, as they only know Windows.

Have any of you done it with good results?

Yes

I do it to all the computers I buy. Things always work out in the end. However, I don't have your laptop. Only you do. Even same brand and model often have different internal components when they come from different batches of production.

You need to create a live USB or a live DVD of your new laptop has a DVD slot. Then boot from the live USB/DVD. You will see an option to "Try Ubuntu without installing". Use that option and try! Make sure all components, such as, webcam, sounds, mouse, trackpad, keyboard, WiFi, Ethernet cable socket, etc. work.

Some components (WiFi is often an issue) may not work initially, and need installation of additional drivers, or other tweaks. Search this site for answers if you run into such problems.

Some components like fingerprint reader may not work at all. Decide if you can live without them.

Hope this helps

Community
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user68186
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Another thing is that Ubuntu has changed desktops with 18.04, so it will look different, but you can add the old desktop (unity) back if you do not like the new look.

crip659
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I did this recently and everything is great for me in the Ubuntu world! But if you are like me and want a safety net, you could always clone your disk into an image so, if you find any issues and want to rollback to windows, you just put that bad boy back in and get your old windows exactly as you left it.

metichi
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