How to delete Instagram account step by step

by

After weeks when you’ve hardly ever opened the app, did you realize that you can easily do everything without Instagram but do not know how to deactivate your account?

Would you like to temporarily disable your Instagram profile to be able to reorganize and take care of it more closely in the coming months?

You’ve come to the right place at the right time.

With today’s guide, we will see together how to delete ourselves from Instagram and how to deactivate accounts on a temporary basis: two very simple operations that require very little time to be completed.

The only problem – if we want to define it – is that you have to connect to the service’s website and you can not act directly from the smartphone app, but this is really a very minor detail.

Once connected to the Internet site of Instagram (from smartphone, PC or tablet) just a few clicks to exit the social network temporarily or permanently delete photos, like and all the information related to your account.

Are you ready to start? Find all the information you need right below.

Preliminary operations: backup

If you have decided to close your Instagram profile permanently, before proceeding with the action make a complete backup of all the photos you have uploaded on the social network.

To do this I suggest you to rely on 4K Stogram, a free software for Windows and Mac OS X that in one go download all the photos (and videos) on an Instagram profile, for a maximum of two profiles at the same time.

By purchasing the Pro version of the software (€ 9.95) you can download photos of multiple users at the same time, but for now, this feature does not help you.

To download 4K Stogram to your PC, connect to the program’s website and click the Download 4K Stogram button. Then start the installation package called  4kstogram_xx.exe and click on Yes first and then OK.

Now put the check mark next to the item I accept the terms of the license agreement and press first on Next three consecutive times and then on Install and Finish to finish the setup.

If you use a Mac, to install 4K Stogram you have to open the dmg package you downloaded from the Internet and you have to copy the program icon in the Applications folder of OS X. Everything here.

Now start 4K Stogram, type your username in the search bar at the top and click on the Subscribe button to start downloading all your photos and videos (which are automatically saved in the Pictures/Stogram folder on your computer).

If you are asked to support the app by sharing a post on Facebook, you refuse, it is not necessary. More info on the operation of 4K Stogram and other similar tools are available in my tutorial on how to download photos from Instagram.

How to unsubscribe from Instagram permanently

Now let’s move on to action, let’s see how can we delete ourselves from Instagram in a definitive way. To delete your account from Instagram permanently, linked to this page from your computer or smartphone and, if required, access the service by typing your username and password.

When logged in, indicate why you want to unsubscribe from Instagram using the drop-down menu.

Why are you deleting your account?  Among the options available there are concerns ab[appbox firefoxmarketplace ][appbox firefoxmarketplace ][appbox firefoxmarketplace ]out privacy, the creation of another account, difficulty in finding followers and other reasons: you choose the one that you consider most compatible with your situation.

Then enter the password of your Instagram account in the text field that appears at the bottom of the page and press the button Delete my account permanently to delete you permanently from Instagram.

It is important to note that once an account has been deleted on Instagram, it is impossible to reactivate it. All photos, likes and data saved on the service are deleted and it is even impossible to register again on the social network using the same username. In short, think well before taking this step!

Without this clarification, I remind you that after the cancellation of the account you can safely delete the Instagram app from your phone: on the iPhone just hold your finger on its icon for a few seconds and press the x that appears in the upper left, on Android instead you have to go to Settings> App and first press the Instagram icon and then the Uninstall button.

How to deactivate an Instagram account

To deactivate your Instagram account temporarily, connected to the service’s website  (instagram.com) from your computer, smartphone or tablet and log in by clicking on the Login button as [your name]. If you do not see the button to log in, click on the item Do you have an account? Login that is at the bottom and connected to your account by filling out the form that is proposed to you.

In the page that opens, click on the icon of the man placed at the top right and press the button Edit the profile on the page of your personal profile.

Now select the item Temporarily disable my account at the bottom of the screen, choose the reason why you are deactivating your profile (eg I need a break ) from the drop-down menu Why are you deactivating your account? and complete the operation by typing the Instagram password in the appropriate text field and pressing the button Temporarily disable the account.

Subsequently, to reactivate your account, all you need to do is log in to Instagram using your account and confirm your willingness to reopen your profile.

If you do not want to completely deactivate your account but only make it private (ie allow it to be viewed by old followers and the people you provide the link to), open the Instagram app on your smartphone and press first the icon of the little man placed in bottom right and then on the button (…) in the upper right corner. Then move the lever on the Private Account option to ON and you’re done.

Note: Deactivation of the Instagram account can be done at most once a week. Do not abuse this feature.

How to download photos and videos from Instagram | 5 Best Apps

by

Have you just watched a video on Instagram which you don’t want to lose at any cost?

Are you unable to download it directly via Instagram?

If this is what you need, you will surely be happy to know that it is possible. In the Android PlayStore and there are several applications that can help you fulfill your purpose, all through a few simple taps on the screen of your device.

On the iOS App Store, however, please note that, at the moment, it is very difficult to find free and long-running applications that can do this.

Are you interested in the question and would you like to know more? Would you like advice on which applications to download in order to succeed in your intent to download one or more videos from the popular social photo network?

No problem, I can help you in the blink of an eye. All you have to do is take a few minutes of free time to read this guide. I recommend to you Keep your Android or iOS smartphone in hand, install and try to use the applications; you will see that downloading the videos of your interest will really be a walk.

Ready to start?

Yup? Very well! I wish you a good read.

App to download videos from Instagram on Android

InstaDownloader

[appbox googleplay screenshots com.popularapp.videodownloaderforinstagram ]

Most of the applications to download videos from Instagram that I will talk about, are accumulated by their ease of use; a strength that will allow you to download the desired movie in a few taps on the display of your smartphone.

Among the first applications in this category, I want to talk to you about InstaDownloader, application available for free in the Android PlayStore. The use of this application is very intuitive and in the app there is also integrated a summary visual guide that explains how to use it.

In any case, follow my instructions step by step to understand how to download videos from Instagram.

The first thing to do is to find the video to download in the Instagram application. Then open the Instagram app on your Android smartphone and once you have found the video you are interested in, you will need to know its URL to download it.

For this purpose, tap on the icon with the three dots symbol in the upper right corner and then on the copy URL to share.

In this way you will have copied the URL of the video in question to the clipboard of your device; you will then have to go back to the InstaDownloader application to copy the link in question into the text field on the main application screen.

In the text field you see on the screen, at the item, Download, paste the link, in case this has not already been added automatically.

At this point, the video will be automatically downloaded from the InstaDownloader application and you can view it listed below and in the History section.

If you wish to save it in the memory of your device, tap the symbol of sharing present at the preview of the downloaded video. You will find the voice Share that will allow you to share the video on other social networks, Post Again that will allow you to share the video on Instagram, Download Image, through which you can download the cover image of the video in question and Download Video. This last item will allow you to save the video in the default multimedia gallery of your smartphone or Android tablet.

InstaDownload is therefore a free application and very easy to use to download videos from Instagram.

Insta Download

[appbox googleplay screenshots com.znstudio.instadownload ]

Application for Android is even easier to use to download videos from Instagram, thanks to its minimal user interface is Insta Download. Also of immediate use, it is configured of only two screens. The first is called Guide and serves the purpose of remembering its use to users of the application, with an explanation in English.

The second screen is Download which is useful for carrying out the purpose of this tutorial. If you want to download videos from Instagram using this application, the first thing to do is to find the video to download in the visual social network application.

Did you find the video you’d like to download?

If the answer is yes, then tap on the icon with the symbol of the three dots you can see in the upper right corner. Then tap on Copy URL to share. By doing this, you will have obtained the link of the video in question and you can use it to download it.

Then go back to the Insta Download application and paste the URL into the text field you find on the screen by tapping Paste.

By doing this, the video will be automatically downloaded and you will be able to view it using the attached box. Once the video is downloaded, you can use the Save Image, Save Video or Repost Image items to save the cover image and the video in the memory of your device, respectively. Using the Repost Image button, however, you can share the video on Instagram again.

To take advantage of the application without banner ads, you can purchase the Premium version, which costs € 2.19.

Fast Save

[appbox googleplay screenshots photo.video.instasaveapp ]

Fast Save is an application to download videos from Instagram that focuses on speed of use, with the aim of allowing you to download videos from Instagram in just a few seconds.

Then start the application, once you have downloaded it from the Android PlayStore and first activate the fast download service. To do this, simply move the lever from OFF to ON in correspondence with the Open Instagram option.

At this point, tap the Open Instagram button: the photo social network application will start and you can search for the video you want to download.

Did you find it? Good! Tap on the icon with the three dots symbol on the top right and then tap on Copy URL to share. The application will show the progress of the download in the drop-down menu of Android and if you tap on the notification you will be sent back to the application and you will be able to see the downloaded video by tapping on the Video section.

The Fast Save application is free and supports through advertising banners, some of which are however quite invasive.

Pic Repost (Downloader For Instagram)

[appbox googleplay screenshots com.niceapp.instasave ]

Another application for Android that serves the purpose of downloading videos from Instagram is Pic Repost. I chose to talk to you about this application as it presents a very simple and immediate user interface, allowing you to download videos from Instagram by copying and pasting the link of the video in it.

The strength of the application is also the possibility to perform fast and automatic downloads.

To use it, all you have to do is go to the official Instagram application and locate the video to download. As usual, you will need to tap on the three dots symbol and then on the Copy URL to share entry. 

In this way, you will have obtained the link of the video in clipboard and you can download it. As soon as you have copied the link in clipboard, it will open a small pop-up and, you will have to press on the item Go to Paste. 

You will then switch to the Pic Repost application and you will need to tap the Paste & Download button to download the video in searchbox.

Activating instead the option auto download instead you will ensure that all future videos will be automatically downloaded via the app, every time you copy their URL. You can watch the downloaded video by tapping on the Check the downloaded video.

Even the Pic Repost application has several advertising banners but is able to fulfill its purpose in a completely free.

App to download videos from Instagram on iOS

InstDown

[appbox appstore screenshots 779715397]

If you are using a device with an iOS operating system, such as an iPad or an iPhone, the application I suggest you to install to download a video from Instagram is InstDown. I chose to talk to you about this application because its operation is really intuitive and noteworthy.

In order to use InDown, you will need to go to the Instagram application and locate the video you want to download. Once found, tap on it to view it and then tap on the icon with the symbol of the three dots you can find at the top right. Then tap on Copy link to copy the link of the video in question to the clipboard.

Now open the Indown application and copy the link in the text box visible on the screen, next to the item put your link. Then press the down arrow button and wait for the video to be downloaded to your device’s memory. If requested, accept the application access to the iOS Photos app; in this way you can save the video in the default gallery of your device.

Indowner is a free application with a minimal interface that does not have advertising banners and does not offer secondary functionalities other than the one mentioned.

Do you know any other app which suits our list? Then feel free to share it with our users via comments.

Best places to find jobs online in 2018

by

Finding work is very difficult in our day, with full employment offices and employers who require a lot of experience and qualifications to be able to aspire to the most desired places.

In a scenario where unemployment does not tend to fall (on the contrary), we can also find work using the Internet, where every day many companies and shops place ads to find professionals for practice in any sector.

Without detracting from the search for classic work (in which the person is presented directly in a shop or in a company looking for a job), we can help in the search for a new job by some specialized sites and looking directly at the ad sites.

In this guide, we will see together the best sites to send the curriculum to find work, the most used by companies to hire new employees.

What you need to look for a job online?

Before you start looking for a job online, make sure you have the following information or documents at your fingertips:

– Curriculum Vitae (CV): the curriculum is very important because it will show the recruiter your skills, your past jobs and the experience accumulated in a specific sector.

If you are a beginner with the job, turn to internship announcements, so you can easily accumulate experience; if instead, you have a few years on your shoulders, insert in the curriculum as much information as possible on the places you have visited for work.

In the CV let’s make sure that there is a recent photo in our photo card format (usually at the top right of the first page of the CV).

– Cover letter (Cover letter): many companies start to ask for a letter of introduction to candidates; this document must be very precise because in fact it is our visiting card in the eyes of the selector.

We enter all the data as if we were writing a formal letter and make a summary of the capabilities we hold and what we expect from the work we intend to undertake; choosing the right words could open the way for you to work much faster than a full-bodied curriculum.

The letter of presentation must be different for each ad: customize it according to the type of company you contact, keeping only the introductory part the same on all letters.

Even if the company did not ask you for the cover letter explicitly, keep this format to write in the text field provided by the site or in the email you send to apply.- Contacts: in order to be recalled by the selector, we always insert a mobile phone number both in the CV and in the letter of presentation, so as to be easily reachable to fix a presentation interview.

Let’s not just rely on e-mails or other digital communication systems: one of the first tests that recruiters do is to feel how we act on the phone and how we answer the usual questions, so it’s essential that they can immediately hear you talking on the phone (in particular if you have chosen a job of contact with colleagues or with other people).

– Certificates: in order to demonstrate your specialized skills, we should make a copy of the certificates and specializations acquired in the field (possibly still valid) and insert these copies as attachments to the CV.
In some trades, being skilled is a godsend and could immediately open the door to new work.

– Diversification: if we are going to respond to more ads in completely different sectors, let’s make sure to prepare a CV and a cover letter for each sector in which we want to find work.
For example, if we want to jump into logistics and at the same time respond to ads for some stores, let’s make sure we have a folder for each sector in which we want to look for work, with a CV and an adequate letter of presentation inside each one.

Using a single CV to respond to the largest number of ads without any criteria is the easiest way to not find a job.

– Update: we continuously update the CV with all the new work experience, so as to have it ready in case of need.
By doing so we will be sure to provide the best possible curriculum in the ads.

These are the information and documents to prepare before looking for any online job.
As you can see, it’s not much different from looking for work physically turning offices and companies!

The secret to finding a job is in perseverance : do not give up on the first difficulties, the first silences or the first waste, keep looking for new announcements, contact also the companies that have refused (after 1 month at least) and improve the letter of presentation and the CV, the details and the care with which you will keep these documents will make the difference sooner or later.

The best sites and apps to find work 

After seeing what documents and information prepared to find work online, in this part of the guide we will show you the best sites and apps to look for a new job.

Note: All these websites have different apps for different countries so you can download these apps from PlayStore or iTunes according to your country.

1) Monster

The historically most popular site in the world to find work is definitely Monster.

On this site, just enter the type of work sought and the area in which we are interested in finding employment and get many good results.

The ads are all fairly recent and will put you in touch with a large number of companies, even the largest.

We can visit the site from here -> Monster

2)Infojobs

Another leading site in the indexing of job advertisements (specialized or not) is Infojobs.

We can either take a look at the existing ads (using the search bar or one of the contextualised menus) or create a user profile in order to get targeted ads only.

But unfortunately, this awesome site is available in just Spain, Italy and Brazil.

We can visit the site from here -> Infojobs

3) LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a social network designed to offer a communication tool between the companies they hire and the workers.

By creating your profile on LinkedIn and attaching all the documents that certify work skills (from the CV to the masters obtained) we will allow companies to look for our profile, especially if it matches their needs, and then find the most suitable job for our qualifications.

LinkedIn is a new way to look for work, but if well exploited it will allow to find the job quickly and to leave the interested party with a margin of choice (answering only to interesting requests).

We can visit LinkedIn from here -> LinkedIn

4) Jobrapido

If the sites presented so far have not convinced you, we can focus on the search engine of the ads, namely Jobrapido.

On this site, simply enter the type of job you are looking for and the area where we are willing to work to receive hundreds of relevant ads.

If we do not immediately find what we are looking for, we can always activate email notifications, so as to be among the first to respond to new announcements as soon as they are entered.
The site can be reached here -> Jobrapido

5) Manpower

If we look for a site where to find any type of job advertisement, even for abroad, we can turn to the service offered by Manpower, always leader in the field of research of new uses.

The contact between workers and those looking for new workers is facilitated by the integrated system of communication on the site, the system of management of profiles (with targeted ads) and the many tools offered by the site.

We can visit the site from here -> Manpower

6) Adecco

 

Adecco is one of the best companies specialized in providing job advertisements to large companies (including multinational companies).

We create a profile of our worker on the site and let us advise the best ads based on the CV provided and the choices made during registration; so we can see only relevant ads and, with a little luck, be contacted by companies interested in your profile.

The site can be reached from here -> Adecco

Fix no GRUB menu on dual boot windows 10

by

Have you just re-installed Windows on a computer which also has Linux and when you turn on your PC but you are no longer allowed to choose which operating system you want to use?

Don’t worry, this is a fairly common problem and for this, you just have to restore GRUB and your problem will get solved with just a blink of eye.

Don’t you know what I’m talking about? I’ll explain it to you right away.

GRUB (acronym GRand Unified Bootloader) is the bootloader which is used by many Linux distributions, such as the famous Ubuntu, to manage the operating systems installed on the computer.

In other words, it is the software that looks at the operating systems are installed on the PC and allows you to choose which one to start after switching on the machine.

Restoring it is much simpler than it seems. To do that, you don’t need to format your computer’s hard drive or reinstall one of the operating systems already on your PC.

Follow the instructions below to restore the GRUB initial menu:

First step

If you want to restore GRUB because you installed Windows after Linux and now you no longer have the option to choose which operating system to start when the PC is switched on, follow the instructions below.

For this, you need to get a live version of Ubuntu or Boot Repair Disk, a “first aid” distros that contains the necessary tool to repair the Linux boot loader. Now download one of the two solutions I have just suggested to you, for Ubuntu.

If you are downloading Ubuntu then select the version from 32-bit or 64-bit operating system from the drop down menu and then press the button start the download.

If you want to download Boot Repair Disk just click on the boot-repair-disk-32bit.iso entry or the boot-repair-disk-64bit.iso entry(depending on whether you want to download the 32- or 64-bit version of the distro).

Once the download is complete, copy the ISO file to a disk or USB stick.

Now burn the ISO image of Ubuntu or Boot Repair Disk on a DVD use the software that I have recommended in my guide on how to burn ISO (eg ImgBurn ). You can also copy it on a USB stick using the free UNetbootin to install ubuntu from your USB.

Once you have your bootable CD or USB stick with Ubuntu or Boot Repair Disk, boot from the latter and follow the steps that are shown in the following sections of the guide.

Note: I recommend the second option between CD and USB stick, but it is not mandatory. Please note that if you use a computer based on the UEFI system (and not the old BIOS) you must use the 64-bit version of Ubuntu/Boot Repair Disk.

Ubuntu

If you are using a live version of Ubuntu, start the operating system from the first screen and then Try Ubuntu option without installing it from the next.

Then, enable an Internet connection by connecting your computer to the router via an Ethernet cable or by choosing one of the Wi-Fi networks available in the menu at the top right (the icon of the Wi-Fi clutches).

Once you have established your Internet connection, open the Terminal and type the following by pressing the Enter key successively and typing the password for your user account.

  • To add the Boot Repair program repository to the Ubuntu software sources (press Enter to confirm the operation)
    sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yannubuntu/boot-repair
  • To update the Ubuntu software source database
    sudo apt-get update
  • To install and start the Boot Repair utility.
    sudo apt-get install -y boot-repair && boot-repair

In the window that opens, click the Recommended repair button, wait a few moments to restore GRUB and click OK to save the changes. Then restart the PC and GRUB should be back in its place.

Boot Repair Disk

If you are using Boot Repair Disk, select your language from the initial language selection menu, start the distro (select the 64bit version or 32bit version option from the next screen, depending on the version you are using) and wait for it to start automatically the Boot Repair utility.

Then click on the Recommended repair button, wait a few moments to restore the GRUB bootloader and press OK to save the changes. At this point, restart your computer and you should again be able to choose which operating system to boot between Linux and Windows.

In case of problems

Main solutions

Have you installed Ubuntu (or another Linux distro) but GRUB does not appear? Does it start Windows directly instead?

In this case, if you believe you have a computer based on the UEFI system, restoring the bootloader may not be useful.

What you need to do is access the UEFI firmware settings by pressing F2 or any other key indicated in the computer startup screen, look for the UEFI Boot Option Priority settings, Boot Option Menu or Boot priority order and select GRUB (or Ubuntu ) as the boot loader to be used when the PC is switched on.

Another possible solution to the failure of GRUB is to access the Windows Command Prompt, type the command

bcdedit /set {bootmgr} path \EFI\ubuntu\grubx64.efi

and press the Enter key on the PC keyboard.

This will force the Windows boot manager to “see” the GRUB information in the EFI hard disk partitions (the one containing the data useful at the start of the various operating systems).

If you can not access the UEFI firmware configuration panel by pressing F2 or another key when the computer is turned on, try to act directly from Windows 8/8.x and later. Let’s see how.

  • If you are using Windows 8/8.x, click the Start button, type the term settings in the search field that is shown to you and select the PC Settings icon from the search results. Then click on the items Update and Recovery and Recovery in the left sidebar, press the button Restart now that is under the heading Advanced startup and wait for the screen to appear with the Windows startup options.
  • If you are using Windows 10, click on the Start button, click on the Settings icon (the gear wheel on the left) and then press the Update and Security icon. At this point, click on the Restore item on the left, locate the words Advanced Restart and then press the Restart now button and wait for the sender to appear with the system startup options.

Now select the Troubleshooting, Advanced Options, UEFI Firmware Settings and Startup settings and you should be able to access the UEFI firmware settings.

You can also deactivate fast boot function of Windows 8/8.x and later to access the GRUB menu. To do so, access the Windows Control Panel (the classic one), search for the term power in the search bar at the top right and click on the Change button behavior of the power buttons.

Now, click on the Change settings currently unavailable, uncheck the item Activate Quick Start and press Save Changes to save the settings.

Many UEFI-based computers have the so-called BIOS Legacy Mode which is a special boot mode that lets you emulate old BIOS and use compatible operating systems only with the latter (like older versions of Windows and Ubuntu).

In some cases, it may happen that you have installed Linux in BIOS mode instead of UEFI and this causes the inability to start Windows. In fact, it is not possible to dual-boot two operating systems if they are installed in different modes (one in UEFI mode and one in BIOS Legacy mode).

To solve the problem and restore the dual-boot you have to convert the installation of Linux to the same mode in which Windows is installed: You can do it with the Boot Repair utility of which we talked about at the beginning of the guide.

  • To convert Linux to UEFI mode you need to start Boot Repair and activate the panel with the Advanced options, then select the GRUB Position tab, put the check on separate Partition/boot/efi and click Apply.
  • To convert Linux to BIOS Legacy mode, start Boot Repair and activate the panel with Advanced Options, then select the GRUB Position tab, uncheck the separate Partition/boot/efi item and click Apply.

Finally, enter into the UEFI firmware configuration panel and choose whether to start the computer in UEFI or Legacy mode.

Other possible solutons

Keep in mind, however, that the ones I just suggested are just some of the possible ways to restore GRUB, those useful to solve the problem in most cases. However, there are specific situations where it may be necessary to follow some other procedure or integrate other steps to those we have just seen together.

To resolve any doubt on the question, I strongly encourage you to ask for help on the official forum of the Linux distro you use (eg the Ubuntu forum ): there you will surely find someone able to help you.

Also try to take a look at the official Ubuntu wiki where other procedures are described to solve boot problems in dual-boot systems.

How to install Ubuntu in computer step by step guide

by

After having heard so much from your “techie” friends finally, you have decided to try something different and to install Linux on your computer.

Linux is an alternative operating system to Windows and macOS which is based on the open source philosophy. Its source code can be viewed, edited and redistributed by everyone freely.

There are several versions, called “distributions” or “distro”, most of which are 100% free. Among these, one of the best known is Ubuntu that in recent years has managed to win many supporters thanks to its extreme ease of use and good compatibility with the hardware currently in circulation.

Another very important thing to stress is that Ubuntu includes very famous applications such as LibreOffice, Mozilla Firefox and is compatible with other software that surely you will have learned about Windows like Chrome, GIMP, JDownloader and many others.

In short: if you want to find out how to install Linux, try Ubuntu and we assure you that you will not regret it.

There is no easier and more convenient way to approach the “penguin” operating system.

What do you say then? Are you ready to start?

If your answer is affirmative, take some free time and read on: find all the instructions you need right below.

Minimum requirements and preliminary operations

Before you get to work and try to install Linux on your PC, make sure you have everything you need to get this done.

A PC compatible with Ubuntu

 

As already mentioned above, Ubuntu is compatible with most of the computers currently in circulation. However, it is better not to take unnecessary risks and carefully check the compatibility of your hardware with the operating system distributed by Canonical.

The minimum requirements to run Ubuntu are the following:

A processor with 700 MHz or higher, at least 512MB of RAM, 5GB of disk space and a graphics card with support at a resolution of at least 1024 × 768 pixels. These are the recommended requirements to enjoy the Ubuntu experience at full: a dual-core CPU at 2 GHz or higher, 2GB of RAM, 25GB of free disk space.

Regarding support for graphics cards, sound cards, network cards, printers and other hardware components, you can use software like Speccy for Windows that can identify them all very quickly.

A good Internet connection

 

The ISO image of Ubuntu weighs about 1.5GB. Moreover, during the installation process of the distro you will be offered the possibility to download from the Internet the latest available updates and third-party software that are not included by default in the operating system, such as MP3 codecs. In short: to download Ubuntu and everything necessary for its operation you need a good Internet connection.

A DVD or USB stick on which to copy Ubuntu

 

Depending on your preferences – and the hardware equipment of your PC – you can choose to install Ubuntu via a DVD or via a USB stick. In the first case, you can use any empty disk.

In the second, however, you need a flash drive with at least 2GB of free space. The key is formatted, so it must not contain any important files.

A properly configured BIOS / UEFI

 

To boot the DVD or USB stick with Ubuntu, you may need to enter the BIOS or the UEFI configuration panel of your computer and change some parameters in the latter.

The UEFI, if you do not know it, is an evolution of the traditional BIOS that is found on most PCs sold with Windows 10 or Windows 8.x pre-installed. It’s easier to use than the old BIOS, but it includes security measures that can prevent the Ubuntu installer from starting.

If you are using a fairly recent PC, then go to the UEFI configuration panel to deactivate the secure boot function, which prevents the startup of operating systems that do not have a digital signature (practically all operating systems other than versions more recent Windows).

In some cases, moreover, you may need to activate the BIOS Legacy function that allows you to emulate the operation of the old BIOS on UEFI-based PCs.

But be careful, by activating the Legacy BIOS mode you will lose the possibility to create a dual-boot system with Windows (you will have to continuously switch from the BIOS mode to the UEFI depending on the operating system to be started).

You can find more details about these features and how to change them in my tutorial on how to enter the BIOS / UEFI.

A backup of the data on the PC

 

The installation of Linux does not automatically delete the files on the disk (it does so when you choose to format the destination disk), but before proceeding it is always advisable to backup your files. Get an external hard drive or very capacious USB flash drives and create a backup of documents, photos, videos and other files.

How to download Linux

Now you can take action and download Ubuntu on your PC. Before proceeding, however, know that there are two versions of this distro: the standard and the LTS (short for Long Term Support).

The Long Term Support versions have extended support lasting 5 years and are issued every 2 years, the standard ones are issued every 6 months and have a 9 month support.

Personally, we recommend the LTS, even if they have some function less than the standard versions (or better, later acquire the features introduced in the standard Ubuntu releases).

If you are ready to start, then open the Ubuntu website and click on the Download it now button. On the page that opens, select the version of Ubuntu you want to download from the first pull-down menu, the 32-bit or 64-bit option from the central drop-down menu (depending on whether you want to install the 32 or 64 operating system version bit) and click on the Start download button to download the ISO image of the operating system on your PC.

 

How to copy Linux to a DVD or USB stick

When the download is complete, you must decide whether to copy Ubuntu to a DVD or USB stick. If you want to use a DVD, insert the disk in the burner and burn the ISO image of Ubuntu (eg  ubuntu-16.04.1-desktop-amd64.iso ) with any program suitable for the purpose.

We recommend the free ImgBurn software, but there are many others that you can use. To find out how to burn ISO files in detail, you can consult a guide to the topic we wrote some time ago.

 

 

If your computer does not have a DVD player and you want to copy the ISO image of Ubuntu on a USB stick, you can use the free Rufus software that supports all the main Linux distros, all the latest versions of Windows and many LiveCDs related to antivirus, software for partitioning etc.

To download Rufus on your PC, connect to its official website and click on Rufus 2.xx in the middle of the page.

Then start the file  Rufus-xx.exe, click on the Yes button and, in the window that opens, select the drive for the USB stick on which you want to copy Ubuntu through the dropdown menu Device/Unit.

When the operation is complete, click on the diskette icon located at the bottom right, select the Ubuntu ISO image and make sure that in the drop-down menu Partition and target system type and File System there are selected the Schema items, respectively MBR partition for BIOS or UEFI and FAT32.

Then put the check mark next to the Quick Format option and click on the Start, Write in ISO image mode and Yes buttons to start copying the files on the USB stick.

 

Note: if you have a computer based on a 32-bit UEFI system (like many medium-low-end convertible tablets), to start the Ubuntu stick you may need to download the bootia32.efi file from this web page and insert EFI\BOOT folder of the flash drive.

If you can not boot with the stick, try inserting the file we just suggested in the latter and/or re-create the Rufus stick by selecting the GPT partition scheme for UEFI option in the Partition scheme and system type menu destination and choose the dd mode to write data to the unit.

How to install Linux

Now you are ready to  install Linux on your PC. Remember that installing a Linux distro on your PC does not mean eliminating Windows, at least not necessarily, as the new system will create a new partition on the hard disk of the computer where you will place and every time you turn on your PC you can choose to start normally Windows or start Linux.

The only precaution you need to have is to leave some free space on your hard drive so that Ubuntu can install itself without problems (20/25 GB should suffice).

At this point, insert the disk or USB drive of Ubuntu into the PC and restart it to boot from Linux.

If the computer does not detect the drive that was copied to Ubuntu and normally starts Windows, you must enter the BIOS/UEFI and set the CD / DVD drive or USB drive as the primary boot drive.

The whole procedure is well illustrated in my tutorial on how to enter the BIOS / UEFI.

After booting, you should find yourself in front of a language selection screen after a quick upload. Choose your language  (using the arrow keys and the Enter key) and select the option to install Ubuntu.

Alternatively, if you prefer, you can also choose the option to try Ubuntu without installing it and then proceed with the installation of the operating system on the PC by clicking on the icon on the desktop.

 

After starting the Ubuntu installation process, select your language item from the left sidebar and click the Install Ubuntu button.

Then put the check mark next to the items Download updates during the installation of Ubuntu and Install third-party software so that the system is already complete with all updates and basic multimedia codecs after installation and click on the Next button.

If you do not have an active Internet connection, you may not even check and make updates after installing the operating system.

 

If everything is spun smoothly, at this point Ubuntu should detect the presence on the Windows PC and ask you what you want to do: Install Ubuntu next to Windows, delete the disk and install Ubuntu or Other (to manually manage the partitions, only for experts).

So put the check mark next to the item to install Ubuntu keeping intact Windows and go forward.

 

At this point, use the mouse to move the graph through which to select the size of the partition to devote to Ubuntu and complete the installation of Linux on the computer indicating your  geographical location (for the time zone), the layout to use for the keyboard and setting the combination of user name and  password to  be used to access the system.

 

Also completed this step? Now just wait for a few minutes. When the installation is complete, restart the PC, remove the disk or USB drive from Ubuntu and you will have the possibility to choose which of the two operating systems to start each time the PC is powered on.

 

If you want to install Linux instead of Windows, select the option Delete disk and install Ubuntu in the initial setup phase or, if you are quite knowledgeable about it, select the Other option to manually manage disk partitions (thus having the possibility to create new ones, delete or format existing ones).

In case of doubts or difficulties, contact the Ubuntu community that is numerous and always ready to help new users who want to “dive” into the world of Linux.