Skip to Content
Installation

Install Linux Mint

A beginner-friendly path to a stable desktop operating system.

Last reviewed:

What you get out of this

After this guide you have a computer (or a virtual machine) that starts Linux Mint, a free and stable operating system that is a perfect fit for running a business. You also learn four things that are worth their weight in gold for anyone who will ever handle technology: what an ISO file is, how you verify that a download is genuine, how you create a bootable USB stick and how you get into the computer's boot menu. When you are done you can install WordPress or Odoo, for example, and then you have your own server to build on.

What you need before you start

  • A computer you are allowed to reinstall. It can be an older laptop, a used computer from Blocket or Tradera, or a computer that is otherwise sitting unused at the office.
  • A USB stick of at least 8 GB. Everything on the stick is erased during step 5, so take an empty one or one you can clear.
  • The ISO file for Linux Mint from linuxmint.com/download.php (explained in steps 1 and 2).
  • A program that creates bootable USB sticks:
  • If you would rather test without touching your regular computer: VirtualBox from virtualbox.org (see the section "Unsure? Test this way instead" further down).
  • About 90 minutes of your time, a large part of which is waiting for downloads.

Time required and difficulty level

Time: 60 to 90 minutes. The installation itself takes 20 to 30 minutes, the rest is downloads and restarts.

Difficulty level: Medium. You do not need to know anything about servers, terminals or networks, but you must be careful and read each step all the way through before you press anything. Two places in the guide are more important than everything else: the warning box about disks and the step where you choose what should happen with Windows. Read them twice.

How to do it

Step 1: Understand what an ISO file is

An ISO file is an exact copy of an entire disc, packaged in a single file. Imagine that someone froze the entire contents of a DVD, including the structure and the startup files, in a single bag. When you "burn" the ISO file to a USB stick, the contents are unpacked again and the stick becomes the same as the installation DVD was. Operating systems like Linux Mint are almost always distributed as ISO files, because one file is easy to download and easy to check.

Step 2: Download and verify Linux Mint

Go to linuxmint.com/download.php and choose the Cinnamon version (it is the standard variant with the usual desktop). Click a mirror close to you, for example a Swedish or German one. A mirror is just a server that stores the same file, so that everyone in the world does not have to download from a single computer.

An ISO file can be replaced or damaged during the download. That is why Linux Mint publishes a checksum, a kind of digital fingerprint, for every file. It is called SHA256 and is a long string of numbers and letters. If your file gives the same fingerprint, the file is exactly right. Here is how to check it in Windows:

  1. Right-click the ISO file in File Explorer and select Properties, the Security tab or File information. Simpler: open Start, type powershell and press Enter.
  2. In the PowerShell window, type the following and press Enter (replace the path with where your file is located):
Get-FileHash "C:\Users\DittNamn\Downloads\linuxmint.iso" -Algorithm SHA256

This command calculates the file's fingerprint. It takes a while for large files.

  1. Compare the numbers that are printed with the SHA256 string on the download page (it is next to the file you downloaded, click the "sha256" link if you do not see it).

If the strings match, the file is correct. If they do not match, download it again.

PowerShell prints three columns: Algorithm, Hash and Path. It is the long string under Hash that you compare, and upper or lower case does not matter, only the characters have to come in the same order.

Step 3: Turn off Windows Fast Startup

Windows Fast Startup does not shut down the computer completely, but locks the hard drive in a half hibernation state. If you install Linux alongside Windows with Fast Startup on, the installer cannot access the disk, the Windows partition is then only mounted read-only or cannot be resized to make room for Linux. Here is how to turn it off:

  1. Open Control Panel and go to Power Options.
  2. Click Choose what the power buttons do on the left.
  3. Click Choose what the power buttons do.
  4. Click Change settings that are currently unavailable.
  5. Clear the check box for Turn on fast startup and save the changes.

The checkbox should be empty when you save the changes. If you cannot click it, you have missed step 4 in the list above.

Step 4: Create the bootable USB drive with Rufus (Windows)

  1. Download Rufus from rufus.ie (take the version at the top, "Rufus x.x"). The program does not need to be installed, you just click the file.
  2. Insert the USB stick. Everything on it will be erased.
  3. In Rufus, under Device, select your USB stick.
  4. Click Restart at the bottom, next to "Select", find the ISO file and open it.
  5. Leave the other options as they are and click Start. Answer Yes to the warning that the stick will be erased.
  6. When it says "Ready", the stick is done.

Check one last time that the Device line points to the USB stick and not to an external hard drive. Rufus overwrites what is there without asking a second time.

Step 4 (Mac): Create the USB stick with balenaEtcher

  1. Download balenaEtcher from etcher.balena.io and install it.
  2. Insert the USB stick.
  3. Click Flash from file and select the ISO file.
  4. Click Select target and select your USB stick.
  5. Click Flash! and enter your password when macOS asks.

balenaEtcher validates the drive automatically when it is done, so you know it works.

A green checkmark and the text Flash Complete mean that both the writing and the verification passed.

Step 5: Start the computer from the USB stick

Now you will make the computer start from the stick instead of from the hard drive. You do this via the boot menu (startup menu), a small menu found in the computer's built-in system, BIOS or UEFI. BIOS/UEFI is the program that starts first every time you press the power button, before Windows or Linux has time to wake up. UEFI is the modern variant found in all computers sold in the last ten years.

  1. Shut down the computer completely.
  2. Insert the USB stick.
  3. Press the power button and tap the right key immediately, over and over again. Which key it is depends on the manufacturer:
    • Dell: F12
    • HP: F9 (or Esc first, then F9)
    • Lenovo: F12, or a small rescue button with a curved arrow next to the power button
    • Acer: F12, on some models you must first press F2 in BIOS and enable "F12 Boot Menu"
    • Others: F2, F10 or Delete (Del)
  4. In the boot menu you select the USB stick, usually the line that mentions USB or UEFI followed by the name of the stick.

If the key does not work, try again and tap faster, right from the moment the screen turns on.

The boot menu is usually a short list in the middle of a black screen. If the word USB is not on any line, the stick may be listed under the manufacturer's name instead, for example Kingston or SanDisk.

Step 6: Test or install

When the computer has started from the stick you see the Linux Mint desktop with an installation icon. You get two choices: Test Linux Mint (runs from the stick, nothing on the computer is changed) or Install Linux Mint. Feel free to try the test mode for a while to check that the network card and screen work.

Step 7: Choose installation options

Stop, read this before you continue. In the next step you choose what should happen to the computer's disk. If you choose to erase the entire disk, EVERYTHING on the computer disappears: all photos, all documents, all saves, all programs and all of Windows. It cannot be undone. Never make that choice on a computer where anything important is stored without first copying the most important things to another location.

  1. Choose language (Svenska) and keyboard (Swedish).
  2. On the "Installation type" screen you choose Install Linux Mint alongside Windows. That is the safe choice: the installer shrinks the Windows partition, creates space for Linux and both systems remain. With a slider you drag how much space each system should get, give Linux at least 30 GB.
  3. If the computer has no Windows, or it is a dedicated test computer, you choose to erase the disk and install. Then the warning box above is already dealt with.
  4. Fill in your name, choose a password you will remember (you need it for every program installation) and confirm.
  5. The installation now runs on its own. Take a coffee break.

Step 8: Restart and the first update

  1. When the installation is done, click Restart now, remove the USB stick when the computer asks you to and press Enter.
  2. You are now greeted by a small menu every time the computer starts where you choose Linux Mint or Windows.
  3. In Linux Mint, click the shield icon in the bottom right corner, Update Manager, and click Install updates. That downloads security fixes released after the ISO file was created.
  4. Go to Menu, Settings, Language, click Install/remove languages and add Swedish support, so you get Swedish spell check and Swedish menus in several programs.
  5. The last choice during the installation, or via Menu, Sound and video: multimedia codecs, small programs needed to play MP3 and video. The Update Manager usually suggests them right away.

Unsure? Try this way instead

If you are unsure about messing with the computer's disk, or you are on your only computer, then you should neither delete the disk nor run dual boot, but create a virtual machine with VirtualBox from virtualbox.org. Then Linux Mint runs in a window inside Windows, like a regular program. The file system is not affected at all, you can remove the whole Linux machine by deleting a single folder, and you do exactly the same installation as in steps 6 to 8, with the difference that you point VirtualBox at the ISO file instead of a USB stick. The downside: it runs slower and you do not really learn the boot menu. For a business that needs a server running every day, a real installation is better, but as practice VirtualBox is excellent.

How to know it worked

  • The computer starts and shows a menu where you can choose Linux Mint.
  • You log in to Linux Mint and the Update Manager shows "Your system is up to date" after you have installed what was available.
  • Wi-Fi or a network cable works and you can open a web page.
  • If you chose dual boot: Windows also starts, from the same menu.
  • The SHA256 value for the ISO file matched the one on linuxmint.com, which is your guarantee that the installation media is genuine.

If something goes wrong

  1. The computer starts Windows as usual, the stick does not seem to be there. The stick was inserted after the computer had already started, or the boot key was not pressed. Shut down completely, insert the stick, start and tap F12/F9/F2 faster. Also try F10, Esc and Del.
  2. The boot menu appears but the USB option is missing. Change USB port, use a port directly on the computer, not in a USB hub. Recreate the stick in Rufus or balenaEtcher, some computers are sensitive to which format the stick got.
  3. The Grub menu only shows Linux, Windows is not there. Start Linux Mint, open Menu and type "terminal". Run:
sudo update-grub

This command looks for all operating systems on the disk and rebuilds the start menu. On the next restart Windows should appear.

  1. The computer refuses to start the stick and shows a message about Secure Boot. Secure Boot is a security feature in UEFI that only allows signed operating systems. Linux Mint supports Secure Boot, but some older computers do not recognize its signature. Solution: restart, enter BIOS/UEFI with F2 (common on Dell and Lenovo, Del on many desktops), look for Secure Boot under the Security or Boot tab and turn it off. Install. You can turn Secure Boot back on afterwards, Linux Mint keeps working, as long as you have not installed Nvidia's own drivers or other unsigned additions to the kernel, then they need to be registered separately (MOK) to start with Secure Boot turned on.
  2. The installation does not find the disk or says it is locked. Fast Startup is still on. Start Windows, follow step 3, shut down the computer completely (not sleep) and try again.
  3. The screen is black after choosing "Test Linux Mint". Common on computers with Nvidia graphics. Restart from the stick, in the boot menu choose the USB option that ends in "(safe graphics)" or press e when the Grub menu appears and type nomodeset before quiet splash. The installation and the desktop then start in a simpler graphics mode.
  4. Get-FileHash gives an error message that the file cannot be found. The path is wrong. Drag the ISO file from File Explorer directly into the PowerShell window after the command, and the correct path is written by itself.
  5. Wi-Fi does not work after the installation. Connect a network cable for a while, run the Update Manager, and restart. Most Wi-Fi problems disappear with the extra drivers that come with the updates.

What you do next

You now have a server, but it does not do anything yet. The next step is to install the software your business will run:

  • Will the business have a website or web shop? Follow the guide Install WordPress.
  • Will the business handle orders, inventory or customer records? Follow the guide Install Odoo.

Both guides assume that you are right here, with a fresh Linux Mint installation.

Back to the guides

Cart