Ubuntu - Install from scratch

Today is a public holiday in Belgium, so I'm finally taking the time to install Ubuntu on my old PC.

The idea is to remove Windows and install Ubuntu Desktop 24.04 on the computer.

Let's go, you'll see, it's easy.

Result​

That's a working Ubuntu 24.04 install, ready to reboot into. Before you get there, one trap to avoid — it's the one that actually cost time during this install:

Turn off Bitlocker first​

If you're using Bitlocker on your computer, you must first deactivate it; if not, just skip this chapter.

You can follow the official documentation here: Turn Bitlocker off.

Shortly, still in your Windows session, start your Control Panel, search for Bitlocker and click on Turn off Bitlocker. Depending on the speed of your computer and the size of the hard disk, it'll take minutes.

Download Ubuntu and create your bootable USB stick​

You'll need to get the ISO of Ubuntu; just go to https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/install-ubuntu-desktop#2-download-an-ubuntu-image and download it.

Once the file ubuntu-24.04-desktop-amd64.iso is successfully downloaded, you'll need an additional software called balenaEtcher. balenaEtcher has to be used to create the bootable USB stick. It couldn't be simpler: just select the downloaded ISO file, then the letter of the USB drive (D: for me) and confirm.

After a few minutes, the USB stick will be ready.

Think to plug an Ethernet cable before installing Ubuntu​

Even if it's optional, make sure to plug an Ethernet cable so, during the installation process, Ubuntu will be able to download additional software like your graphic card driver directly from Internet.

Start the installation wizard​

Turn on your old computer and make sure to boot on the USB stick. For this, during the boot process (in my case, when I see the Dell logo), press the F12 or DEL key to start the BIOS setup.

There, make sure to select the option allowing you to boot on a USB stick; save your changes if any and quit.

Your computer will now boot on the USB stick and start the installation process of Ubuntu.

Everything is nicely covered by the official tutorial.

A few notes:

• Select the interactive mode so you can select the options that suit you best in more detail;
• When asked, select Extended selection to be able to install additional software during the installation process (like desktop tools, utilities and a web browser);
• When asked Install recommended proprietary software?, make sure checkboxes are unchecked (see below);
• The wizard will ask how to install Ubuntu; alongside Windows (so with a dual boot) or alone. I'm going to opt for the latter. Personally, that's my goal and I'm going to ask to delete my entire current disk (Windows) and to do that, I'm going to click on Erase disk and install Ubuntu and click on the Advanced features button. I'm going to opt for Use LVM and encryption which will allow me to have encryption like I had with Bitlocker: someone who came to steal my hard disk wouldn't have access to my files without the decryption key.

Remember the NVIDIA/Secure Boot warning from the top of this article when the wizard asks about proprietary drivers.

You'll be asked to create your administrative account and to select your time zone.

Then, once you've confirmed your choices, the wizard will start to prepare your machine then copy files on your computer. This process is, of course, the slowest one. It can take 10 minutes or more.

That's the completed installation shown at the top of this article.

Reboot and enable Ubuntu Pro​

Once the installation is done, remove the USB stick and reboot.

The post-installation wizard will welcome you and ask if you wish to enable the Ubuntu Pro service; just proceed.

Ubuntu Pro is a free (for personal use) service proposed by Canonical and will keep your computer up-to-date.

As a very last step, run the Software Updater application to check for any additional software to install. If you're a pro of the console, it's the same as running sudo apt update.

Time to add software​

• Firefox as browser (sudo snap install firefox),
• Thunderbird for your email client (sudo snap install thunderbird),
• LibreOffice to create documents, spreadsheets or slideshows (sudo snap install libreoffice),
• Visual Studio Code to start coding (sudo snap install code --classic),
• Docker to work with containers (see Install Docker and play with PHP),
• Gimp to edit images (sudo snap install gimp),

And the very first thing I install on any fresh Linux, before anything else: Oh-My-ZSH. Working in bash after having tasted ZSH autocompletion is painful.

Ubuntu isn't the only candidate for an old PC; I've also had a look at Zorin, which is Ubuntu-based but ships a Windows-like desktop.