I am installing Ubuntu 14.04.1 64-bit on a Windows 7 HP machine. It has displayed a dialog box with a title of "Install Ubuntu alongside them" and after I hit [Continue] the button greyed out and the cursor began spinning. But, it appears to have hung and there is no progress bar. How many minutes/hours should I wait before giving up and powering off the machine?
Also – can Ubuntu handle in this type of installation an HP machine as delivered from the factory which will have the maximum amount of partitions used – one for Windows, one for OS Recovery, and one for their Diagnostic Tools?
EDIT: Based on answers below I downloaded a free Windows partition tool called MiniTool® Partition Wizard Home Edition 8.1.1. My HP computer did not have 3 partions (Windows, Tools, Recovery) as I expected, but only [Windows, Recovery]. I shrank the Windows partition and created a 8GB swap and a 128GB ext4 mounted to / (wasn't brave enough to try a extra /home). Then I reran the installation CD and chose "Something Else" and was able to get an install.
From this question/answer it seems that the Ubuntu "Alongside them" option can hang if it finds something besides a single Windows partition occupying the hard drive.
Best Answer
This should not require that much time. Normally 30-40 secs is required. In this time, Ubuntu decide which partition should be used for it, make room for Ubuntu by shrinking (if needed) an existing partition and then start installation. It seems, your Notebook has a configuration which is problematic for Ubuntu.
I suggest you to restart the process by again. You should choose "Something else" option instead of "Alongside... " option. Then shrink a partition, make two partition on the new free space (one for
/and one for swap) and then go.