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I'm currently downloading the Windows Installer. I'm using Windows 7 but want to multiboot Ubuntu.

I want to ask a simple thing.

If I ever decide to uninstall Ubuntu, does my Windows 7 system may go corrupt? I worry about it because right now Windows 7 has full access on my HDD.

Does Ubuntu work like an application under Windows 7, like creating a folder for itself? Or does it automatically edit my partitions and give itself 100GB, lower Windows 7's partition to 900GB? (like how we usually format our computers)

Windows installer sounds super easy comparing to loading Ubuntu .iso file and editing partition settings ourself and it got me wondering.

Thank you already and I hope Ubuntu will be a great experience for me!

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5 Answers 5

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If you install your windows and ubuntu into different partitions there shouldnt be problem to format the partition of ubuntu when you want to uninstall it so you will need just to take care of files you have in ubuntu

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  • I have windows 7 installed in C. D folder was used for stocking things like games, movies etc. I selected D folder when Ubuntu installation requested it. It created a folder called ubuntu. Now what's going to happen? Ubuntu is going to take 30GB free space od D partition and create an E partition for itself?
    – Aristy
    Mar 27, 2013 at 21:22
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Basically you can

  • Install Ubuntu as a windows application...

this will not change your harddisk-layout and afterwards you can simply uninstall the application...

  • Try ubuntu on a live CD

won't alter your system at all, but will be slow, won't allow you to save changes (or not all af them, at least)

  • Install ubuntu on a partition of it's own.

during installation you will have the possibilty (using gparted) to shrink the windows partition and use the free space to install ubuntu... I'd make a good backup of the windows-partition, because at this point it's quite easy to screw things up.... on the other hand the tools are quite well-documented, so you can probably work it out the right way.
ubuntu will install the grub boot loader, giving you a choice between booting ubuntu or booting windows...
if you decide to get rid of ubuntu afterwards (can't imagine why you would, but anyway), you should be able to delete the partition again

(what i'm not sure of, is how to restore the original MBR)

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    Trying Ubuntu on a 'live usb' will be faster than live cd. I believe a live usb can be made persistent so changes to Ubuntu will be saved. Of course the assumes your pc will boot from usb. I suggest a trail run of a week or so prior to making a final decision of where to install
    – pfeiffep
    Mar 27, 2013 at 21:48
  • I've just tried it and seems like I won't be able to use Ubuntu at all. The first problem is, my mouse is at 5600 DPI so even at the lowest sensitivity rate, my mouse still move like a rocket. It's not an issue in Windows. The second issue is, all of my box's fans goes 100% as soon as Ubuntu starts. I don't know what's wrong. I use 955 Black Edition and 6950 and something feels weird.
    – Aristy
    Mar 27, 2013 at 22:09
  • maybe you can open a terminal and run the command 'top'. this will show you the processes that are mainly eating your systems resources, and so give you a clue what is driving your box mad...
    – long tom
    Mar 27, 2013 at 22:17
  • I've tried to read sensors but every single app I download is giving error. Strange. Guess I'll be back to win7 soon. :(
    – Aristy
    Mar 27, 2013 at 22:36
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I have been running WUBI (Lubuntu flavour) 12.10 on a Windows 7 machine for some months now. I used the 32-bit version, as I have a couple apps running under WINE that need that environment to behave.

This machine has about 120Gb HD, all Win7 configured. I set up WUBI to use 22Gb (I had plenty of free space). This does not require partitioning the disk! Your C: disk is available during your Ubuntu session, but the reverse is not true: when booting to Windows, you cannot (or only with difficulty, and I can't be bothered) access the Ubuntu area of the drive.

The boot menu defaults for Win7 (if you don't touch it, it will eventually boot through to Windows), and both installations are working just fine. I rarely boot to Windows, as this machine works MUCH better under Lubuntu.

As I understand it, WUBI installs as a service under Windows, so uninstall would just be done from the "Add/Remove programmes" (sorry! XP-speak), or "Control Panel > Programs and Features".

The WUBI Guide has more information than the download/install page for WUBI, and is worth consulting (and bookmarking).

Hope that helps!

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Whatever the way you install Ubuntu alongside Windows, you will have the possibility to easily uninstall it (and get back only Windows) via this little tool: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/OS-Uninstaller

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If you install Ubuntu with the Windows installer it will work indeed like a normal application. You can always remove Ubuntu like every normal program.

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  • If I ever install something into Ubuntu, will it be installed into ubuntu folder or typical C:/ folder?
    – Aristy
    Mar 27, 2013 at 21:22
  • This will be installed into the Ubuntu folder which is located on your C:/ drive.
    – user81721
    Mar 27, 2013 at 21:29

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