Ubuntu – Is it possible to install Ubuntu without a CD or USB drive?

system-installation

So basically as it stands I have a laptop which has no cd/dvd drive, and I don't have a usb drive.

The laptop has windows 7 installed with ubuntu 11.04 installed through wubi.

What I want to do is remove windows completely, and make ubuntu the only OS installed on the system.

Is there a way to do this without re-installing ubuntu? (i.e. can I take my wubi install away from windows?)

or is there a way to from inside ubuntu have it run the ubuntu iso somehow so I can just wipe the system and install it fresh? (even if it means I need to have an e.g. 2gb partition just for the image to reside in).

Best Answer

Use Windows 7 to shrink one of your partitions (you can shrink a mounted partition while running Windows). If you already have 4 primary partitions you'll need to remove one of them first.
Boot wubi and install GParted and create an extended partition in the free space you created, and then 2 logical partitions, one an ext4 partition large enough to contain your Wubi install, and optionally 1 swap partition (> size of RAM).
Migrate wubi to the partition, installing the grub bootloader at the same time
Boot the migrated Ubuntu and format the Windows partition, which you can then reuse as a separate /home or you can use the same migration script to move the migrated Ubuntu to it.

This solution doesn't require a live CD/USB (although it's always a good idea to have one.

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Ubuntu – Fresh install from within Ubuntu without CD-ROM or thumbdrive

Just a suggestion. Repartition your drive to create a 2 gig partition (at least) install the ISO to this drive using Unetbootin in the type box change to harddisk and select the new partition. Then update grub and reboot. Select the new partition boot to the live image then install to the old partition. As I say its a suggestion don't know if it will work or what problems you may have along the way. But if it works it works.

Install Ubuntu Without CD or USB – How to Use Wubi for Installation

For BIOS devices:

To install Ubuntu without CD/DVD or USB pendrive, follow these steps:

Download Unetbootin from here.
Run Unetbootin.
Now, from the drop-down menu under Type: select Hard Disk.
Next select the Diskimage. Browse to the directory where you downloaded the iso file of Ubuntu.
Press OK.
Next when you reboot, you will get a menu like this:
Select Unetbootin and you will get the "Try" or "Install" option there.
Finally, you can install your version of Ubuntu alongside Windows.

For UEFI devices:

First, download rEFInd.
Then, extract it.
Now, follow the below steps to install rEFInd^[source], so that, you have a boot menu to boot to Ubuntu Live environment. Summary of the installation process given in the source is as belows:
1. Open cmd with Administrator privileges.
2. Then,
```
mountvol S: /S
```
  - (you may change S: to any available drive letter)
3. Type cd in cmd and then drag and drop the extracted folder to the already open cmd window. E.g.,
```
cd "C:\Program Files"
```
4. Copy refind
```
xcopy /E refind S:\EFI\refind\
```
  - In this step S: will be the drive letter that you used above.
5. Change directory to rEFInd
```
cd S:\EFI\refind
```
6. Rename config file
```
rename refind.conf-sample refind.conf
```
7. Note that {bootmgr} is entered as such; that's not a notation for a variable. Also, change refind_x64.efi to refind_ia32.efi on systems with 32-bit EFIs. Such computers are rare, and most of them are tablets. Check your Windows bit depth to determine which binary you should use.
```
bcdedit /set {bootmgr} path \EFI\refind\refind_x64.efi
```
8. Download EaseUS Partition Master Free and run it.
9. Select your last partition.
10. Right-click on it and from the context menu select Resize/Move partition.
11. From the size shown beside Partition Size minus 4096 MB (to mimic a 4GB pendrive).
12. Press tab and the rest will be auto-completed.
13. Select the newly created partition and right-click on it. Select Create Partition from context menu.
14. In this window, select FAT32 as the File System. Click on OK. Finally, click on Apply (present at the top-left of the window).
15. Next, extract Ubuntu iso to this partition and finally reboot.
16. You will be presented with a rEFInd menu. From here select the Ubuntu partition. It will boot into a Live environment. Continue with the installation. After the installation finishes boot to Windows.
17. Run EaseUS Partition Master Free again.
18. Right-click on the 4 GB partition and from the context menu select Delete Partition.
19. Right-click on the partition above the Unallocated partition and select Resize/Move Partition from the context menu.
20. Extend the bar to the extreme right by dragging the button.
21. Click on OK. Finally, click on Apply (present at the top-left of the window).
22. Open cmd with Administrator privileges.
23. Then,
```
mountvol S: /S
```
  - (you may change S: to any available drive letter)
24. Remove rEFInd
```
rmdir "S:\EFI\refind" /S /Q
```
  - In this step S: will be the drive letter that you used above.
25. Reinstall grub as your primary boot manager
```
bcdedit /set {bootmgr} path \EFI\ubuntu\grubx64.efi
```

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Ubuntu – Fresh install from within Ubuntu without CD-ROM or thumbdrive

Install Ubuntu Without CD or USB – How to Use Wubi for Installation

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