Linux with WUBI

The other day I finally found a way I could use Linux without those dreadful live discs and Virtual Box - it's called WUBI (stands for Windows Automatic Ubuntu Installer apparently).

With WUBI you install the Ubuntu into the Windows and then at start up you are given the option to boot into Windows (the default setting) or Ubuntu. It does away with the hassle of partitioning the hard disk and gives you a functional Linux system. I like the look of Ubuntu but I have to say that I prefer the comfortable old slippers feeling of using Windows XP!

The big problem I have experienced (and not yet been able to solve) with Ubuntu is the fact that I cannot browse the internet. My ADSL ethernet modem works fine in XP but in Ubuntu I get a connection and nothing else - which means that, as well as not being able to surf the internet, I am unable to download any programs or updates. I am just glad that I have XP as my default operating system and not Ubuntu as the only one. I have seen a similar issue on the Ubuntu support forum but no one has provided a solution to it.

The other big difference is in load up time. I did a little test yesterday and timed the loading of each OS from the moment I selected it. The results are surprising - Windows XP took just 1 minute 39.25 seconds from being selected to all my programs being ready for me to use but Ubuntu took a staggering 8 minutes 50.14 seconds before it was ready to use. I like Linux but I am not convinced of its superiority to Windows.

Virtualbox and live disks - never again!

Tux the Linux mascot

I have been considering trying out Linux for a while now, having read that it was a stable, secure, reliable operating system. Last week I bought a magazine devoted to starting up with Linux, which contained a "live CD" containing the Ubuntu 8.10 system.

The magazine contained instructions on using Linux but still keeping Windows XP - you could set up a dual boot system which would mean having both the Linux and Windows on the same computer and choosing which to run on boot up or you could install a virtual machine which would run the Linux as a "guest" system within the Windows "host".

I chose to use the virtual machine, and, having specifications which were OK, I installed "Virtualbox".

And then the nightmare began!

The Ubuntu disk started up in Virtualbox, and I thought things were going OK, until the right CTRL key stopped working, which meant that the "guest" system had "captured" my computer keyboard! Then I got a message saying that Virtualbox had encountered an error and needed to close down. Then the fun started. The DVD drive on my computer jammed with the damned live disk still inside! Pushing the emergency eject button made no difference and I could not eject the disk via the link in My Computer.

I tried System Restore, but, predictably, instead of booting into Windows when it started up, the damned Linux screen appeared! After several seconds of frantically pushing the eject button on the DVD drive, the disk tray finally opened and the disk was taken out, never to be tried out again!

I have never been so happy to see the Windows XP screen appear on boot up! Needless to say, Virtualbox has been removed from my PC and to be honest if I never see that software again it will be too soon!

As for running an OS from a disk, that is something I will never do again in a hurry!