Kubuntu with WUBI

What is WUBI?  

WUBI stands for “Windows-Based Ubuntu Installer”.

What does WUBI do?

It installs a version of Ubuntu using a disk image file “iso”  or a real CD. It creates the Ubuntu installation as  a huge 12 gigabyte file called “root.disk”. This file is in the “Disks” folder which is in a folder called “Ubuntu” which can be anywhere on your Windows PC, such as in the “C” or “D” partitions. If you click on “Uninstall”, you can get rid of it, and the machine will be back to normal.

In other respects the installation behaves as though it has been installed on dedicated partition. WUBI saves you the bother of partitioning your hardrive, and possibly messing up your Windows installation.

I found using this as compared with using a dedicated partition hardly makes any difference – in fact it seems to work better!

Warning:  The best method of using WUBI is to download the “iso” of the Ubuntu distro you are interested in. Make a real CD of that and run the Wubi installer off the CD. The other way – running WUBI and downloading the disk image is rather s-l-0-w…! And if you get an error, you have to start all over again.

To run WUBI, you start the machine as normally under Windows, and you insert the CD and click open the installer. You then select “install alongside windows”. The alternative option requires you to partition your drive. This process can be done automatically, but is is liable to screw up your machine.