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Windows User? Do You Wubi?
March 8, 2008 | By: UbuntuLinuxHelp | 10 Comments
Posted in Applications, Experiences, Installation
(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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Earlier this week we were discussing if Ubuntu Linux needed antivirus software. (If you missed the post, it is here: Does Ubuntu Linux Really Need Antivirus Software?) During the course of the discussion, one of our readers (from TechCollective) suggested we try out "Wubi".
If you've never heard about it:
"Wubi is an unofficial Ubuntu installer for Windows users that will bring you into the Linux world with a single click. Wubi allows you to install and uninstall Ubuntu as any other application. If you heard about Linux and Ubuntu, if you wanted to try them but you were afraid, this is for you."
So I booted up my old Win 2000 box (which is pretty dusty now - forgot the password, good thing I wrote it somewhere), and downloaded the Wubi package from here: http://wubi-installer.org/index.php (Click the download button just under the site header).
Don't forget to create your (Windows) Emergency Repair disk in case something goes wrong, and of course always backup any valuable data before installing Wubi.
I double clicked to install and followed along. Easy. The first thing I noticed is a choice as to which flavour: Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Edubunto or UbuntuStudio; I'd like to install. I didn't expect that, and I think it's a great feature for you Windows fans who'd like to see what the different types of Ubuntu in operation.
After selecting Ubuntu, I noticed that the distribution being downloaded was ubuntu-7.04-alternative-i386.iso
The install is easy and pretty much automated... Download's the package, creates the virtual disks. Just so you know, the "Creating Virtual Disks" section took so incredibly long that I thought the install had failed. I was just about to kill the process (I was just moving to click on "End Task" ) when the install completed and I had the option to reboot. So, remember to give the install extra time at this stage.
After the reboot, it installed hardware, performed some configurations, finished and the I was able to reboot into Ubuntu. It was simple, easy and automated. And I think, a great way for Windows users to get some exposure to Ubuntu, before diving into a fully loaded Ubuntu based PC.
One thing I noticed is that the system ran so painfully slow. After viewing the forum here: http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=234, I assumed it might be because I had a very fragmented Windows drive? Reboot to Windows........... Yes. Extremely fragmented. So this is caused by my Windows system not Wubi/Ubuntu.
I wanted to see how the uninstall worked, so I could go through that process. The site said to uninstall (in Windows): d:\wubi\uninstaller.exe Nope! That gives an error message. If I surf to the directory, I see it's really "d:\wubi\wubi-uninstall.exe" And... it completed in less time you can say "completed".
A couple parting thoughts...
1) I thought it a very nice feature that NTFS support was enabled and I could see all the Windows based files.
2) I'll certainly recommend this to my Windows friends who are interested in seeing Ubuntu before considering a full migration.
In my opinion, Wubi is a great idea and (even thought it's still in Beta) is a great tool! :)
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It -is- still in beta. However, it’s a very polished product given it’s beta status, but there are reports that it won’t run at all on certain systems, and I’m not sure if it runs on Vista completely.
One thing I should mention:
There is a 7.10 and 8.04 version available – essentially the same deal though.
http://wubi-installer.org/deve.....minefield/
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/WubiGuide
Thanks for the plug, by the way!
@yochai – Thanks! We appreciate the update with links too. (I’ve already fired them off to a couple people this morning). As I mentioned in the post, great package you have there! :)
Cheers!
i have also installed ubuntu (8.04) on to my D drive using wubi. but the
“uninstall-ubuntu” icon in the ubuntu folder does not work. thankfully your post has saved me from removing this folder from my D drive.
i was also wondering have you tried removing the files:
1) wubildr
2)wubiblr.mbr
these were found in the D drive.
i also have an error message when i try to boot up ubuntu that ends with the line
(initramfs)
i have only had the error since i downloaded a driver for the improved graphics. once i did this ubuntu loading bar still appeared but after that the screen was blank.
i can either get the blanck screen of the (initramfs) error
i have tryied downloading a new wubi loader and also tried running it from the ubuntu folder.
anyone have a sloution to either get ubuntu back up and running or remove it from my system?
wish i had just partitiond my hard disk least to remove you can run fixboot and fixmbr i suggest you DO NOT use wubi
thank you for your time
A reader (“J.D.”) emailed me with the following:
“…I found out that deleting the wubi.exe file, which does not get deleted upon uninstallment, allowed me to reinstall properly…”
Thanks for the input J.D.
Hi. I have successfully installed previous version (8.04 I think) “from” my Vista Business system with wubi. When new version appears I decide to remove previous and install the new one. For now i do not complete this task with success. All the time, again and again installer looks to be “stopped” on “creating wirtual disks”. I have read above that it can took a long time…. But – how long is “long”? On my computer it lasts almost 40 minutes for now :( I’m thinking about killing process… Does anyone had such problem? I have tried to download another copy of wubi, install “via” net, install from ISO (in the same catalog is wubi), install with –32bit switch… Previous, successfull installation has taken about 20 minutes.
Does anyone has any idea?
Regards
@Megg – As your host OS is really Windows, have you completely uninstalled wubi, before trying to reinstall it? Did you read the comments? One reader indicated the the uninstaller does not remove the wubi.exe file. He suggested that removing that file will allow you to reinstall wubi again (please see the comments). I’m not totally familiar with Vista – But could there be some permissions issue preventing a proper reinstall?
Finally, I took a quick loog and this might be a known bug: “freeze on virtual drive format” and “Installation freezes during virtual disk formatting“, again, the comments in the bug reports are important to read.
I hope, in some way that this information helps you resolve the issue. Please let us know.
Thanks! :)
Hi… It still “creating virtual disks”. It seems that about 75-80% of this has been done – so it is not 33% (but thanks for links). I think that it has no sense to wait for finishing – I will kill this for a while. The one thing I did not do is to delete wubi file. Other things: this is a FAT32 stand-alone partition (so should not be any problems with permissions) – 24Gb Primary, tried to run wubi with “Run as administrator” (something like sudo in *nix) so privileges are high enough I think ;) Before “new” installation I delete whole partition and create again.
After reading all comments and “attached” links I will try: localize and uninstall/delete wubi, make again new partition (maybe NTFS is required ? – I thought that FAT32 will be less “troubleshotter” ;)) and will try to install with more restriced space (now it has 20 Gb – I do not konw a detailed mechnizm of virtual disk creation in Ubuntu – it can depend on partiotion size?). I let you know if I success with this modification or not. Thanks again. Going to kill process :(
Finally it works ! :D
But…I do not know what caused problem/what exactly to do to make it worked.
Things I have done (except described above):
1. Find and delete wubildr and wubiblr.mbr from my system partition
2. Defragment system partition
3. Reducing installation size to 4 Gb
4. Delete and create and format partition for ubuntu instalation once again
5. Find and remove from registry all entries ralating ubuntu OR xubuntu OR wubi
After that it still does not work :(
I turn computer off, because it has been late night…
In the morning I turned computer on, defragment again. I thought, that I will try to install ubuntu on the other partition – with NTFS file system. And, I was surprised – it lasts no more than a few minutes. So I uninstall this installation – all works fine. Reformat partition for Ubuntu with NTFS (instead FAT32), run wubi again… Installation size 14Gb. And… It works. After a few minutes I have to reboot, choose Ubuntu from boot manager – and after awhile I saw Ubuntu login screen. Uffff. :)
The only thing I would like to know – what from things I had tried, in fact caused it to work? Maybe there are some “mappings” between NTFS permissions and ext3 permissions, and they are necessary?
Thanks !!!
@Megg – I’m not a wubi expert. But I assume there are some kind of permissions or resource based access rules – yes (because you can access your Windows file when inside Wubi), I don’t think defragmenting has anything to do with this issue.. Remember, your operating system is still Windows and this is not a full installation of Ubuntu. Minimum requirements are 5GB (4GB is too small), see here: http://wubi-installer.org/
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:\ubuntu\disks\root.disk), this file is seen by Linux as a real hard disk.
Wubi was not designed for long-term usage and installations. The main aim of Wubi is to let people try out Ubuntu with confidence, then upgrade to a full installation.
You might be interested in the interview with Agostino Russo, who is the developer of Wubi. In that issue, he suggests that there are some issues, but he also better explains the purpose and development of Wubi.
It’s good that you got it working! :)