How to Install Ubuntu 24.04 (Step by Step for Beginners)

This tutorial takes about 8 minutes to complete.

This guide shows how to install Ubuntu 24.04 on your PC, from downloading the ISO to your first login, and which installer options to pick as a beginner and why. It follows the video, with the exact keys, button names and options from the recording.

New to Ventoy? The Ventoy page explains what it is, and the Windows 11 Ventoy walkthrough shows the Windows steps in more detail. If you are already running Ubuntu 24.04, there is also a guide to installing Ventoy on Ubuntu 24.04.

Warning: this is a fresh install. It formats everything on the drive you select, and there is no disk partitioning or dual boot. Back up anything important first.

Before you start

You need a PC, a USB stick or an external drive larger than 8 GB, and at least 25 GB of free disk space. You will also need a second computer, or the same PC while it still runs its current system, to download the ISO and prepare the USB drive. The video does this part on Windows 11, because many people switching to Linux are coming from Windows.

A wired internet connection is the easiest and most reliable way to connect.

Jump to a chapter in the video: Intro · Get the ISO · Ventoy USB · Copy ISO · Boot menu · Secure Boot fix · Install Ubuntu · First boot

Step 1: Download the Ubuntu 24.04 ISO

Open your browser and go to the official Ubuntu download page for version 24.04, releases.ubuntu.com/noble. For the most up-to-date version of Ubuntu 24.04, scroll down to the bottom and find the Ubuntu 24.04 desktop AMD64 ISO (the video names it as 24.04.5.1). Make sure it is the ISO; it is around 5.8 gigabytes.

Click it to download. The video skips through the wait. When it is done, go to your Downloads folder and you should see the Ubuntu ISO.

The video also puts the ISO in its own folder, which is optional but keeps it easy to find. Right-click the ISO and click Cut. Go to This PC and the C drive, right-click, choose New, then Folder, and name it ISO. Open the folder and paste the ISO there.

Step 2: Download Ventoy

To make a bootable ISO drive, the video uses Ventoy. It turns your USB stick or external drive into a multi-boot ISO drive, so you can store multiple ISOs on it and boot from them.

Open the browser and go to ventoy.net. Click Downloads, scroll down, find the Ventoy Windows zip file and click it. Scroll down and find the Windows zip file again, then click it. Your download should start shortly.

Step 3: Extract Ventoy and open Ventoy2Disk

Once the download is finished, go to your Downloads folder and close the browser. Now you need to extract the zip file: right-click it, click Extract All, and then click Extract. The new folder should open.

Go inside the Ventoy folder and look for the Ventoy2Disk application. Double-click it, and click Yes to give administrator access. Now the Ventoy application is open.

Step 4: Select your USB drive

Connect your external USB drive. If you do not see your USB stick or external storage device, click the green refresh button. If you still do not see it, open the Options menu and click Show All Devices. This shows all the drives on your PC.

Warning: make sure not to install Ventoy on your main drive. Make sure you install it on your external drive. Also back up any important files you have, because this will format and erase everything on the disk.

Step 5: Turn on Secure Boot Support

Open the Options menu again and make sure Secure Boot Support is checked. In case you have any problems with Secure Boot errors, this should help fix it. Step 9 shows how to fix the Secure Boot errors if you still get one.

Step 6: Install Ventoy on the USB drive

Make sure you have everything backed up from your drive, and then click Install. A warning says the device will be formatted and all the data will be lost. Click Yes to continue.

A second window double-checks that you want to format the device and lose all the data. You can click Yes.

When it is finished you will see Congratulations: Ventoy has been successfully installed to the device. Click OK, and then close the Ventoy application.

Step 7: Copy the Ubuntu 24.04 ISO to your Ventoy drive

Open the file manager. If you look on the side, you can see your Ventoy drive. Go to This PC and the C drive, find the ISO folder, right-click the ISO file and copy it. Go back to This PC, double-click the Ventoy drive, then right-click and paste the ISO file. When the ISO file has finished copying to the Ventoy drive, close the window.

Tip: for blazing fast speeds and more storage space, use an external NVMe drive. The NVMe enclosure tutorial shows how to build your own NVMe drive with an NVMe enclosure, and the Orico M.2 NVMe enclosure page has the product details.

Step 8: Boot from the USB with the boot menu key

Shut down your computer and reboot into the BIOS or boot menu. Plug the USB into the PC you are installing on, then restart and tap the boot menu key right as it powers on. The key depends on the brand. Here are some common ones.

You could also check your motherboard's documentation. Keys vary by model. If yours does not work, check the manual of your computer or motherboard.

Tap the key, do not hold it. Tap it repeatedly right after you press the power button, with the USB already plugged in. The boot menu lets you pick the USB drive once, and the BIOS setup key opens the firmware settings, where you can change the boot order.

Acer: on some models the F12 boot menu must first be enabled in the BIOS. Press F2, go to Main, set F12 Boot Menu to Enabled, then save and restart. Lenovo: many models also have a small Novo button that opens a boot menu.

If the key does nothing: fast boot can use up your keystrokes. On a Windows PC, hold Shift and click Restart, then choose Use a device and pick your USB drive. To open the BIOS setup that way, go to Troubleshoot, Advanced options, then UEFI Firmware Settings.

The boot menu keys for Dell, HP, Lenovo, ASUS, Acer, MSI and Gigabyte are the ones said in the video. The BIOS setup keys, the Novo button and the Acer setting come from the manufacturers' support pages and other published lists: Dell, HP, MSI, Acer and the Gigabyte BIOS manual.

In your boot menu, locate your Ventoy drive. In the video, the first device shown is the Ventoy drive. Select it and press Enter.

Step 9: If you get the Secure Boot failure

If you see the error Verification failed: (0x1A) Security Violation, the video calls it the infamous secure boot failure. This is one of the Secure Boot errors, and the fix only takes a minute. Press Enter for OK. When it asks you to press any key to perform MOK management, press Enter.

Go down to Enroll key from disk and press Enter. The selected key will be enrolled into the MOK database. Make sure you select VTOYEFI and press Enter. Then scroll down until you see ENROLL_THIS_KEY_IN_MOKMANAGER.cer and press Enter.

Go down to Continue and press Enter. Choose to enroll the keys, scroll down to Yes and press Enter. Then press Enter again to reboot the PC.

Step 10: Boot the Ventoy drive and start the installer

After the reboot, Ventoy has booted up successfully. To install Ubuntu 24.04, hit Enter on the ISO, boot into normal mode and select the first option.

Wait until the Ubuntu installer has finished loading.

Step 11: Choose your installer options

These are the choices from the video, one screen at a time.

Language, accessibility and keyboard

Select your language: the video chooses English and clicks Next. The next page has the accessibility options. If you need any of these, you can change them here. Click Next. Then select your keyboard layout; the video leaves it as English. Click Next.

Internet connection

The video recommends a wired connection, because a wired connection is the most stable. If your Wi-Fi card is detected, you could choose Wi-Fi, but the video uses a wired connection. Click Next.

Install Ubuntu and the installation type

Select the first option, Install Ubuntu, and click Next. Then choose the interactive installation and click Next.

Applications and software

Here the video chooses the extended selection, which gives you more apps and tools with your desktop.

The next page offers to install third-party proprietary software. This will download the graphics drivers and Wi-Fi adapter drivers. Click Next.

Disk

The video is not doing a dual boot installation. It is doing a fresh install, so this will format and erase your whole hard disk. Make sure that if you have anything important you back it up, then select Erase disk and install Ubuntu and click Next.

You need to be very careful here. Make sure the correct hard drive is selected. In the video the list shows the Ventoy drive and also the hard drive, and the hard drive is the one it selects. Click Next.

Your account and location

Create your user account: enter your name, the computer's name and a user name, and then enter a secure password. The video also requires a password whenever you log in. Click Next. Then select your location and click Next.

Review and install

This is a review of all the settings you have set up for your installation. Remember, this will format your whole hard drive, so make sure to back up anything important. Now you can click Install.

Step 12: Restart and set up Ubuntu

When the installation is complete, restart your PC. Remove your USB stick or external drive and hit Enter. Then log in and type your password.

Initial setup

Congratulations, you have installed Ubuntu 24.04. Quickly go over the initial setup and click Next. The video skips Enable Ubuntu Pro. If you would like to share your information with the Ubuntu team, you can; the video selects no, clicks Next and then Finish.

Fix the display

Right-click, click Display Settings and go to Resolution. In the video the resolution is changed to 4K, 3840 by 2160, and the scaling is set to 200. Then click Apply and keep the changes.

Appearance

Go to Appearance and select dark mode, then close the window.

You have now downloaded the Ubuntu 24.04 ISO, made a Ventoy USB, booted it with your boot menu key, installed Ubuntu 24.04 and finished the first-boot setup. In the next video you will see how to install local AI using Ollama.

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