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I am a bit tired of MS and would like to use OS software instead.

I am an end user with limited IT knowledge and would like to know if I can do the change myself.

Questions:

1) Do I need to uninstall Windows before downloading Ubuntu? And do I need to clean all the harddrive to do this? 2) Do I need to install Linux before installing Ubuntu? 3) I read something about the booting and want to know: Do I need to boot or reboot Ubuntu with an external tool (usb, pendrive or other) or can I do it directly using my Lenovo? 4) Will I have access to my stored files from Windows?

Thank you in advance for your comments and suggestions.

Cheers,

Eduardo

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I'll briefly answer your 4 questions. For more detailed answer, you may check the link provided by @pomsky

  1. It's not compulsory to remove Windows. It's totally your choice.

    • This is when 'Dual Booting' comes in. With 'Dual Booting', you can have 2 OS installed on your system, without any major issues.
    • Cleaning up the hardrive, 'completely' is not required. If you can just take out ~100 GB of space (through partition), then you're ready for Ubuntu.
  2. Ubuntu is a OS based on Linux. You can consider it as a Fruit(Ubuntu) with a Seed(Linux). So, if you take the fruit, then you automatically have the seeds. Just like that, you install Ubuntu and have Linux with it. You may consider reading more about Linux and it's distributions on Wiki.

  3. With& without a USB, installation of Ubuntu can be done.
    • With USB : You need to make it a 'Live USB' (A USB capable of booting up your system with the OS present in it).
    • Without USB : You may consider the option of having 'Virtual Box' (A Software to run a 2nd OS (Ubuntu in this case) from within your Windows OS).
  4. If the files, are created in the Windows OS, then absolutely Yes. However, if they're created in the Ubuntu Os and stored in it's Home Directory, then you might have trouble accessing it. However, you can access the harddisk partitions from Ubuntu and store your files in it. This way, you can access the files, both from Ubuntu and Windows.

I hope that I've answered your queries satisfactorily. If you have any doubts, then feel free to comment here. And I wish you to have an interesting& fascinating experience with Ubuntu! Enjoy!

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  • Thank you Argon, My idea is to install Ubuntu and then uninstall and remove Windows. Apparently I will need some assistance with partition and else. Cheers,
    – Eduardo
    Mar 22, 2018 at 20:06
  • Hi again, Argon, Have a little issue: you`re talking of 100 GB of free space for Ubuntu but the hard drive capacity of this model is only 32GB. Is there a mistake somewhere?
    – Eduardo
    Mar 22, 2018 at 20:19
  • @Eduardo Is there a mistake somewhere? Yes and No. You never posted your hardware specs so Argon mentioned the "comfortable" size for the Ubuntu OS and lots of additional software. You need to adapt it to your specific case though. Now, 32GB is barely enough for Windows alone so no dual-boot for you. And no install Ubuntu first and remove Windows later either. If you want Ubuntu you'll have to install it instead of Window. The installer option of "delete and install Ubuntu..." will do it for you automatically.
    – user692175
    Mar 22, 2018 at 21:39

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