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→Installing Ubuntu on a Disk Drive Containing Microsoft Windows
If you already have Windows installed on your PC you can install Ubuntu Linux onto the same disk drive and boot from either operating system (a configuration know as ''dual booting''). During the installation process Ubuntu will resize the Windows partition on your hard disk to make room for the Ubuntu installation (you will be asked how much of your disk drive you wish to use for Linux) and set up a special boot manager that will allow to choose whether to boot Linux or Windows each time you power up your system. All of this is non-destructive, in that your Windows partition and all the applications and data therein will kept intact. All that will happen is that the Windows part ofd the disk will be smaller than it was originally.
Another useful feature of a Windows/Ubuntu dual-boot configuration is that your Windows logical drives (C:, D: etc) will be accessible from Ubuntu Linux, so you will be able to access your Windows data files from Linux. This means, for example, that you will be able to access your Microsoft Word and Excel files using the Linux version of OpenOffice.
For detailed steps on creating a Windows/Ubuntu dual boot environment see the [[Installing Ubuntu Linux on a Windows System]] chapter of this book.
