'T'he partitioning of a drive is one 1. of the most dreadful moments many users will go through during an installation of a Linux distribution. Space needs to be made, partitions need to be shifted, swap partitions need to be created. All this confusion leaves a lot of the users stranded and people lose data and partitions many a times. Virtualization is the only way of installing Linux without any risks.

Wubi To The Rescue!

One of the new additions in the last few releases of Ubuntu is something called Wubi. Wubi allows you to install Ubuntuon Windows. It isn't just another launcher. Wubi will install Linux on your Windows partitions, into a single folder. That means that there is no need for partitioning.

What Do You Need?
Firstly, you need Wubi which comes along with most Ubuntu releases these days. You can also download the 1 MB executable from www.wubi¬installer.org. Make sure to download the right version of Wubi for the Ubuntu installation. Wubi can down¬load the entire Ubuntu distribution over the Internet. If you have a fast Internet connection, then you can install Ubuntu without any installa¬tion discs. You can also use the ISO file without having to burn it on a CD or DVD. You should also be using the standard desktop version of Ubuntu rather than an alternate disc.

You require a partition with ample space for the distribution. The mini¬mum size for the partition for Ubuntu using Wubi is 4 GB.
Starting The Installation

If you have the downloaded disc image in the form of an ISO file, copy it to the same folder as the Wubi execut¬able. The installation is pretty simple. Double click the Wubi executable and the installer will detect the ISO and start the installation.

This window will ask you to enter a few things. You need to enter a username and password for the OS. Remember this as you will need it to login into the distribution. You also need to enter a size for the distribution. This will be the space that Wubi allocates for the distribution on the hard drive. Also, choose the loca¬tion where you want Ubuntu to be installed. A folder will be created in its place with all the necessary parti¬tions as files in it.

Click Install and the installation will begin. Ubuntu will make changes to the boot records and an option for booting into Ubuntu will appear the next time you reboot.
Accessing Ubuntu Partitions From Windows Once you start Ubuntu, you might want to get files that you were working on into Windows. To access files on demand in Windows, you need an application called Explore2fs (net/explore2fs). Run the application, click on File > Open Image fi.le. Browse to the \Ubuntu\ disks in the location where Ubuntu

Explore2fs allows linux file partitions to be read through Windows was installed. Choose to display all kinds of files and select the parti¬tion you want to load. You should be able to view the files in it.

Issues with Using Wubi
There is one problem that some might face while using Wubi and that is that the partition on which Wubi installs Ubuntu is not accessible once you boot into it. If that partition is extremely I important and needs to be accessed in Ubuntu, then it is a good idea to create a small parti¬tion just small enough for the Wubi Ubuntu installation using a partitioning tool such as PartitionMagic for example. If you want something free, then try GParted (http://gparted.source¬forge.net). If you have a brand new hard drive, allot a small partition once you have the partitions made for Windows

Gparted is a free disk partitioni!lg tool that can resize partitions as well
and for other data storage purposes. If you don't want to, you can manually mount the partition in Ubuntu.

The other minor issue is with the way Ubuntu is stored on the system. The large virtual disk files will get fragmented over time, so defragging is highly recommended or you might find some minor degradation in the performance of your Linux partition.
Uninstalling Ubuntu Wubi not only makes installing Ubuntu simple but uninstalling it also made easy. It can be done by removing the program on Windows. Boot into Windows and click on Start > Control Panel > Add/Remove P rogr ams. Click on Ubun t u and click on Change/Remove. Click on Uninstall and Ubuntu will be removed from your computer. I&l