Install Wild OS
Installing takes about 10 minutes. Nothing on your disk changes until you press Install on the last step, so you can look around and go back as often as you like. Press the help button on any page for a plain explanation of it.
Start the installer from Install Wild OS on the USB stick’s start menu, or from the desktop of the trial. Keep the computer plugged in.
1. Before we start
Section titled “1. Before we start”The installer checks your computer and shows a card for each thing it looked at: disk space, memory, Secure Boot and power. If Windows is on the computer, it also checks the Windows settings that matter for installing beside it.
- Green means ready.
- Amber cards are things to change in Windows before Wild OS can sit beside it. Each has a Show me how button. They only block Install alongside Windows: replacing Windows needs none of them. See install alongside Windows.
- If something can’t be fixed, such as a disk smaller than 40 GB, it says Wild OS cannot be installed on this computer and why.
2. Choose your keyboard
Section titled “2. Choose your keyboard”Wild OS picks a layout from your language. Type a few characters in the Try it box, such as £ @ " # ~ \ |, to check the keys print what’s on them. Use Search layouts to find another one.
This matters more than it seems: your disk password is typed before anything else loads, so it has to be typed on the right layout.
3. Where should Wild OS go?
Section titled “3. Where should Wild OS go?”| Choice | What it does |
|---|---|
| Install alongside Windows | Keeps Windows and all your files. Drag the divider to share the space. Each time you switch on, you choose which one starts. |
| Replace Windows with Wild OS | Erases Windows and gives Wild OS the space. |
| Replace everything on this disk | Erases the whole disk. Wild OS gets all of it. |
| Replace a partition | Puts Wild OS in place of one existing partition. |
| Something else | Choose disks and partitions yourself. For experienced users. |
If a choice is greyed out, the line under it says why, for example Not available while BitLocker is on in Windows.
4. Protect your files
Section titled “4. Protect your files”Wild OS encrypts the whole of its disk space, and it’s on by default. Choose a disk password of at least 8 characters. You’ll type it each time the computer starts.
Create a recovery key is on too, and we recommend keeping it on. It’s a spare way in if you ever forget the password. See encryption and your recovery key.
You can choose Don’t encrypt instead. It starts a little faster, but anyone with your laptop could read your files.
5. Ready to install
Section titled “5. Ready to install”A summary of what’s about to happen: where Wild OS goes, what happens to Windows, what will be erased, and your keyboard. Each line has a Change button. This is the last step before anything on your disk changes.
Press Install. It takes about 10 minutes, and if you started from the trial desktop you can keep using it meanwhile.
6. Wild OS is installed
Section titled “6. Wild OS is installed”Before you restart, save your recovery key. It’s shown once, here, and it isn’t kept on the computer. Choose Save to a USB stick (it saves a file called Wild OS recovery key.txt) or write it down and press I’ve written it down.
Then remove the USB stick and restart. Next comes first start, where you create your account and join Wi-Fi.
If the install doesn’t finish, the installer says so and saves a log called installation.log in the trial’s Home folder. Please send it to us before you restart.