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I purchased a Toshiba C850 Laptop and I'm trying to install the 64 Bit version of Ubuntu 12.10 alongside Windows 8, allowing me to dual boot.

I burnt a Ubuntu 12.10 DVD, disabled Secure Boot on the Laptop and then loaded the DVD. When I selected Install Ubuntu I see that the installer hasn't recognised Windows 8 on the drive and only gives me options to erase the entire disk or to do "something else".

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I've seen that it recognises other partitions but it doesn't correctly find Windows 8.

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In this situation, how can I safely install Ubuntu 12.10 alongside Windows 8

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4 Answers

I shrinked one partition using the Windows Disk Management to have free and unallocated space. Booting up the installer via USB I selected "Something else" and created a 4GB swap partition where I had my freed space and the root partition for Ubuntu (in my case 13.04). However it will happen, that GRUB will not be able to boot Windows properly after the installation. This issue can be fixed by using Boot-Repair which will handle everything.

Here is even a video tutorial which is basically describing what I have done though it is done in a virtual machine without UEFI but the process of the setup should be same. Moreover Boot-Repair is a one-click tool which shouldn't need any specific description.

Keep in mind, that GRUB is probably going to overwrite your Windows boot files.

EDIT: Considering this post it seems possible to install GRUB on the partition where you install Ubuntu, such that it doesn't mess with Windows. Using UEFI you can then choose which OS to boot which sounds pretty nice and makes it easy to delete Ubuntu and GRUB if necessary.

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It is possible that the Ubuntu installer is not recognizing Windows 8 because of GPT partitions. Below are some links that helped me through the chaos.


Why is Windows 8 invisible on Ubuntu 12.10's installer?

Zapping GPT Data Structures

Note: The second link asks for gdisk. I was unable to download gdisk via terminal. I had to go through firefox and get the .deb file, which took me to ubuntu's software center. Here is a link to get the .deb file: GPT fdisk gdisk

You might not be booting from an SSD, but you can use the same method for checking for GPT partitions. If you do have them, you can use the link to find out how to zap them so that your installer can recognize Windows 8.

Hope this helps!

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I'm not dual booting from an SSD –  hellocatfood Jul 18 '13 at 8:16
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Look at your partitions. You have no free space to install Ubuntu, so the installer does not offer that option. The only things left are the "erase disk", or "something else", meaning you fix the partitions manually for the installation. It is recommended that you shrink a Windows partition to create the free space from within Windows, then run chkdsk a few times before running the install. With free space, you should be offered additional choices for installation.

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Most Important is to make sure you have the 64bit version of Ubuntu

  1. Create a LiveDVD or LiveUSB of Linux-Secure-Remix 64bit or of Ubuntu (>=12.04.2) 64bit. The former is more convenient, as it already includes Boot-Repair, which is used in step 4.



    3. Install Ubuntu from the Live CD/DVD or Live USB in the usual manner, then reboot the PC. If the PC does not load Ubuntu (but instead loads Windows, for example, as in Bug #1050940), or if the Windows entry in the GRUB 2 menu does not boot Windows (see Bug #1024383), boot your PC using the Live CD/DVD or Live USB and choose "Try Ubuntu" once again. When the live session has loaded, run Boot-Repair. When Boot-Repair loads, click on the "Recommended repair" button. Then reboot the pc.

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Did you actually read my question? I did all of those things already –  hellocatfood Apr 12 '13 at 14:42
sorry for the earlier reply, but I followed this blog to install Ubuntu alongside my windows pc link –  Fo2adZz Apr 12 '13 at 15:30
That suggestion doesn't address my problem at all –  hellocatfood Apr 13 '13 at 0:40
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