Installing Ubuntu 24.04 LTS — clean install and repair install
Windows & Ubuntu Guides · 2 views
You need an Ubuntu 24.04 LTS USB stick first — see the "Create an Ubuntu 24.04 USB with Rufus" article.
CLEAN INSTALL
1. Plug in the USB, power on, tap the boot-menu key (F9 HP / F12 Dell-Lenovo / Esc ASUS) and pick the USB (UEFI).
2. At the GRUB menu choose "Try or Install Ubuntu". When the desktop loads, double-click "Install Ubuntu 24.04 LTS".
3. Follow the wizard: language > keyboard > connect to Wi-Fi > choose "Interactive installation" > "Default selection" of apps > tick "Install third-party software for graphics and Wi-Fi hardware" (IMPORTANT — this pulls NVIDIA/Wi-Fi drivers).
4. Disk setup:
- "Erase disk and install Ubuntu" — simplest, wipes everything.
- "Manual installation" — for control or dual boot. Create:
* 512 MB, EFI System Partition, mount /boot/efi (skip if one already exists from Windows — just set its mount point, do NOT format)
* rest of the disk, ext4, mount /
(Swap is a file automatically in 24.04; no swap partition needed.)
5. Create your user, wait ~15 minutes, restart, remove the USB.
6. First boot: sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade -y
NVIDIA laptop? sudo ubuntu-drivers autoinstall && sudo reboot
REPAIR INSTALL (Ubuntu broken, data intact)
If Ubuntu will not boot (GRUB errors, endless black screen) you can usually repair without reinstalling:
1. Boot the same USB > "Try Ubuntu" (do not install). Open a Terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T).
2. Find your Ubuntu root partition:
lsblk -f
(look for the large ext4 partition, e.g. nvme0n1p2 — the EFI one is the small vfat, e.g. nvme0n1p1)
3. Mount and enter the installed system:
sudo mount /dev/nvme0n1p2 /mnt
sudo mount /dev/nvme0n1p1 /mnt/boot/efi
for i in /dev /dev/pts /proc /sys /run; do sudo mount -B $i /mnt$i; done
sudo chroot /mnt
4. Reinstall the bootloader and rebuild its menu:
grub-install /dev/nvme0n1
update-grub
exit
5. Reboot: sudo reboot — remove the USB.
6. Alternative one-tool fix: while in "Try Ubuntu" with internet,
sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:yannubuntu/boot-repair
sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y boot-repair
boot-repair
and click "Recommended repair".
If the root filesystem itself is damaged, back your data up first (see the display-gone rescue article) and do a clean install.
Still stuck? Email [email protected] or raise a ticket from the Help Center — include your asset tag and what step failed.
CLEAN INSTALL
1. Plug in the USB, power on, tap the boot-menu key (F9 HP / F12 Dell-Lenovo / Esc ASUS) and pick the USB (UEFI).
2. At the GRUB menu choose "Try or Install Ubuntu". When the desktop loads, double-click "Install Ubuntu 24.04 LTS".
3. Follow the wizard: language > keyboard > connect to Wi-Fi > choose "Interactive installation" > "Default selection" of apps > tick "Install third-party software for graphics and Wi-Fi hardware" (IMPORTANT — this pulls NVIDIA/Wi-Fi drivers).
4. Disk setup:
- "Erase disk and install Ubuntu" — simplest, wipes everything.
- "Manual installation" — for control or dual boot. Create:
* 512 MB, EFI System Partition, mount /boot/efi (skip if one already exists from Windows — just set its mount point, do NOT format)
* rest of the disk, ext4, mount /
(Swap is a file automatically in 24.04; no swap partition needed.)
5. Create your user, wait ~15 minutes, restart, remove the USB.
6. First boot: sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade -y
NVIDIA laptop? sudo ubuntu-drivers autoinstall && sudo reboot
REPAIR INSTALL (Ubuntu broken, data intact)
If Ubuntu will not boot (GRUB errors, endless black screen) you can usually repair without reinstalling:
1. Boot the same USB > "Try Ubuntu" (do not install). Open a Terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T).
2. Find your Ubuntu root partition:
lsblk -f
(look for the large ext4 partition, e.g. nvme0n1p2 — the EFI one is the small vfat, e.g. nvme0n1p1)
3. Mount and enter the installed system:
sudo mount /dev/nvme0n1p2 /mnt
sudo mount /dev/nvme0n1p1 /mnt/boot/efi
for i in /dev /dev/pts /proc /sys /run; do sudo mount -B $i /mnt$i; done
sudo chroot /mnt
4. Reinstall the bootloader and rebuild its menu:
grub-install /dev/nvme0n1
update-grub
exit
5. Reboot: sudo reboot — remove the USB.
6. Alternative one-tool fix: while in "Try Ubuntu" with internet,
sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:yannubuntu/boot-repair
sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y boot-repair
boot-repair
and click "Recommended repair".
If the root filesystem itself is damaged, back your data up first (see the display-gone rescue article) and do a clean install.
Still stuck? Email [email protected] or raise a ticket from the Help Center — include your asset tag and what step failed.
ubuntulinuxinstall24.04grubrepair