# Installing WolOS

> Erase a disk, share it with Windows or Linux, or lay out partitions by hand. Nothing is written before you confirm the summary.

Source: https://wolos.org/manual/install

## What it is

Install WolOS is the installer on the live USB stick. It asks a few questions, explains each page in plain words (what will happen, what is kept), and ends with a summary of exactly what will change. Nothing on the computer is touched until you click **Install** on that summary. At the first menu you can also choose **Try WolOS**, which runs the desktop from memory and changes nothing.

Think of the installer as a builder who walks through the house with you, writes down every wall that will move, and only starts when you sign the list.

## Why

A wrong step in an install can destroy someone's files. So the installer does not act page by page. While you answer the questions it writes down a plan that names every partition it may touch, shows you that plan as the summary, and only then starts. If anything else on the disk changed in the meantime (another program, a disk plugged in), it stops instead of guessing.

## How

**Before you start.** You need a computer that starts with UEFI, at least 16 GB of free disk space, and WolOS on a USB stick or attached to a virtual machine ([Getting started](/manual/getting-started)). Plug a laptop into power. To keep Windows, read [Installing next to Windows](/manual/dual-boot) first.

Every installer page has the same frame: a picture and a title at the top, a sentence saying what the page decides and what comes next, the choices, and **Back** and **Continue** at the bottom. **Back** never loses what you entered on later pages.

1. **Start from the stick and choose Install WolOS.**
   You see the welcome page: "Install it on this computer, or try it first. Trying changes nothing." **Try WolOS** (1) opens the desktop from the stick; you can start the installer from there later. **Install WolOS** (2) opens the installer.
   If the computer has Secure Boot on, it shows one blue screen before this page; see [Secure Boot](/manual/secure-boot).

   ![Welcome to WolOS: the White Rabbit, the sentence that nothing changes until you click Install on the last page; 1 marks Try WolOS, 2 marks Install WolOS.](/img/manual/installer-begin-1280-annotated.png)
2. **Choose your language and keyboard.**
   You see "Choose your language and the keyboard you type on." Click your language in the list (1); the country next to it decides the date format and the spelling. The **Keyboard** menu (2) follows the language; change it if the letters printed on your keys are a different layout. Type a few letters, including ones special to your language, in **Try it** (3) to check that the keys type what you expect, then click **Continue** (4). Both can be changed later in System Settings (Language & Region and Keyboard).

   ![Language and Keyboard: 1 marks the list of languages with English (United States) ticked, 2 the Keyboard menu set to U.S., 3 the Try it field and 4 Continue.](/img/manual/installer-language-1280-annotated.png)
3. **Choose your time zone.**
   You see "Your clock follows this place." Type a big city near you in the search field (1): the list (2) shrinks as you type. Click the city in your time zone, then **Continue** (3). When the computer is online, the installer ticks a guess for you.

   ![Time Zone: 1 marks the city search field, 2 the list with New York (America) ticked, 3 Continue.](/img/manual/installer-zone-1280-annotated.png)
4. **Choose the disk.**
   You see "Choose where WolOS goes." Each disk in the computer has one row with its name and size; click the one WolOS should go on, then **Continue**. The stick you started from, CDs and read-only disks are never listed, and a disk under 16 GB is refused. If no disk shows, connect it and click **Look Again**.

   ![Choose a Disk: two disks with their size and name, a Samsung SSD of 1 TB ticked and a WD Blue of 500 GB, with Back and Continue.](/img/manual/installer-disk-1280.png)
5. **Choose a method.**
   You see "Nothing changes until the last step." Click one of the four ways in the list (1), check the **Swap** menu (2), then **Continue** (3):
   - **Erase Disk** uses the whole disk. The page names what is on it ("This disk has Windows on it. Erasing removes it.").
   - **Install Alongside** shrinks your other system and puts WolOS next to it. A slider ("Drag to choose how much room each system gets.") splits the room. See [Installing next to Windows](/manual/dual-boot).
   - **Replace a Partition** erases one partition and keeps the rest of the disk.
   - **Manual** is for people who know partitions: create, delete and resize them, give each a job (system, startup files, your files `/home`, swap, another folder), choose whether to erase it, and keep an existing `/home`.

   The **Swap** menu chooses where the computer puts things when its memory is full. *Compressed memory* (the default) packs them in memory and is right for almost everyone; a swap file on the disk is for computers with little memory that you want to put to sleep for a long time.

   ![How to Install: 1 marks the four ways (Install Alongside Windows, ticked; Replace a Partition; Erase Disk; Manual), 2 the Swap menu set to Compressed memory, 3 Continue.](/img/manual/installer-method-1280-annotated.png)
6. **Choose encryption.**
   You see "Encryption keeps your files private if this computer is lost." Pick **Security Chip**, **Password** or **Don't Encrypt** in the list (1), explained in the table below, then **Continue** (2). encryption works like BitLocker on Windows or FileVault on a Mac.

   ![Protect Your Files: 1 marks the three choices (Security Chip, Opens on this computer, ticked; Password, Asked at every start; Don't Encrypt, Anyone with the disk can read it), 2 Continue.](/img/manual/installer-protect-1280-annotated.png)
7. **Choose Secure Boot.**
   You see "Secure Boot checks at every start that nobody changed WolOS while the computer was off." The switch **Use Secure Boot** (1) is off unless you turn it on. With it on, the box below (2) shows the five steps of the one-time blue key screen you will meet after the restart; read them now, because the mouse does not work there. Next to Windows with BitLocker the page also says what Windows will ask. Click **Continue** (3). [Secure Boot](/manual/secure-boot) explains the choice.

   ![The Secure Boot page: 1 marks the Use Secure Boot switch, 2 the five steps of the blue screen, 3 Continue.](/img/manual/installer-secure-boot-choice-1280-annotated.png)
8. **Create your account.**
   You see "You use this to sign in." Type your **Full name** (1); the **Account name** (2) fills itself in from it (lowercase letters and digits, starting with a letter), and you can change it. Type a password of at least 8 characters twice (3); the eye button shows what you typed. The **Computer name** (4) is how other devices on your network see this computer. **Log in automatically** (5) skips the login window at start; leave it off on a laptop you carry. Click **Continue** (6). This account is an administrator: it can install apps and change any setting. A name the system already uses is refused.

   ![Create Your Account: 1 marks Full name (Alice Liddell), 2 Account name (aliceliddell), 3 Password and Verify, 4 Computer name (aliceliddell-wolos), 5 the Log in automatically switch, 6 Continue.](/img/manual/installer-account-1280-annotated.png)
9. **Pick modules (optional).**
   You see "Add sets of apps for what you do, or none. You can change this later." Each module has a switch (1): Developer Tools, AI Assistants, Local AI, Creative Apps and Gaming. None is on unless you turn it on. The line under the list (2) says how much the ones you turned on download. Click **Continue** (3). System Settings > Modules has these and two more (Sessions and Console) at any time; see [Modules](/manual/modules).

   ![Apps for What You Do: 1 marks the Developer Tools switch (on; Creative Apps is on too), 2 the download size, About 4 GB to download, 3 Continue.](/img/manual/installer-modules-ticked-1280-annotated.png)
10. **Add media formats (optional).**
    You see "Play the music and video files most people have, in one click." The switch **Add Media Formats** (1) adds MP3, AAC, H.264, HEVC, AC3 and common fonts; the list (2) says what each is for. It is off unless you turn it on, because some formats are patented in some countries and the choice is yours. Click **Continue** (3). See [Music and video formats](/manual/media-formats).

   ![Music and Video Formats: 1 marks the Add Media Formats switch, on, 2 the list of what each format is for, 3 Continue.](/img/manual/installer-extras-on-1280-annotated.png)
11. **Read the summary.**
    You see "Nothing has changed yet. This is exactly what will happen." The list (1) has one line per change: the disk and partitions, what is erased and what is kept, encryption, swap, the computer's name, modules and anything added later. A coloured box (2) repeats anything that removes something, such as another system on the disk. Read it all; **Back** changes anything. **Install** (3) starts writing.

    ![Ready to Install: 1 marks the list of changes, 2 the warning that the disk has Windows and another system on it and erasing removes them, 3 Install.](/img/manual/installer-summary-annotated.png)
12. **Wait.**
    You see "This takes a few minutes. Keep your computer plugged in." The bar (1) shows the step it is on and the time left; below it (2), short tips about WolOS change every few seconds. Nothing restarts until you click Restart.

   ![Installing WolOS: the Pocket Watch, 1 marks the progress bar at Encrypting the disk, about 3 minutes remaining, 2 a tip about the second copy of WolOS for updates.](/img/manual/installer-installing-1280-annotated.png)
13. **Restart.**
    You see "Click Restart to start using WolOS. When the screen goes dark, remove the USB stick or detach the ISO." For an encrypted disk, your recovery key (1) is shown here, once. Write it down on paper, or put a second USB stick in and click **Save to USB** (2). Turn on **I wrote the key down or saved it** (3); **Restart** (4) stays grey until you do.

   ![WolOS Is Installed: 1 marks the recovery key, 2 Save to USB, 3 the switch I wrote the key down or saved it, 4 Restart, grey until the switch is on.](/img/manual/installer-done-key-1280-annotated.png)

   > **Careful:** Keep the recovery key away from the computer, for example in your wallet or with your passwords. If the computer's security chip and your password both stop working, it is the only way to your files.

### Encryption: password, security chip or none

| Choice | What it means |
|---|---|
| **Security Chip** (only shown when the installer finds a TPM) | The disk opens by itself on this computer. If the chip refuses (after a firmware or Secure Boot change), your account password opens the disk instead, and the next start is automatic again. |
| **Password** | The disk asks for a password at every start. It must be at least 8 characters. |
| **Don't Encrypt** | Anyone who takes the disk can read your files. The summary says so once more. |

The disk password is typed before any desktop exists, on a plain keyboard map. Use letters, digits and common symbols only: accented letters cannot be typed at that point, and the installer refuses a password it knows you could not type. Your keyboard layout is applied before that prompt, so the password you type at start is the one you chose. With the security chip, the account password you choose becomes the fallback, so it must be long enough and typable too.

The **recovery key** is a long machine-made key and opens the disk if both the password and the chip fail. It is shown once. Keep it off the computer. If the installer cannot read it at the end, a page says so and **Try Again** reads it before you restart; Restart waits until you have acknowledged the key.

### Installing without a network

The installer works offline. The modules and media formats you ticked cannot download then, so the summary says which are added "at first start with a network" instead of promising more. They install in the background as soon as the network comes up, on Wi-Fi too, and the first start never waits for them. A module that cannot be installed is given up after five tries and is offered again in Settings > Modules under **Could Not Be Added**.

### What the installer will never do

- Write to the medium it started from, a CD, or a read-only disk.
- Touch a partition the plan does not name. If the disk no longer matches the plan, it stops with "The disk changed since you chose it".
- Finish without checking that everything the computer needs to start WolOS is in place.
- Leave your passwords or your recovery key written on the disk: they are removed if an install stops, and the record of the install that stays on the computer never holds them.

### After the install

The computer restarts into WolOS. With Secure Boot on, a blue key screen may come first ([Secure Boot](/manual/secure-boot)). Then the first start finishes setting up the drivers for your hardware (NVIDIA graphics drivers install online when an NVIDIA card is present) and any modules that were waiting for a network, and the login window appears. [Your first day](/manual/first-day) continues from there.

A layout made with **Manual** that does not use the system's own file system keeps one copy of the system instead of two, so an update cannot be undone by restarting; the installer says so on the summary.

## A worked example

Alice puts the stick in an old laptop, starts it from the startup menu and clicks through the installer: language, the whole disk, a password for the disk, her name and a password for the account, no extra modules. She reads the summary, clicks Install and has a coffee. When it says WolOS is installed, she restarts, removes the stick and signs in to her new desktop.

## If something goes wrong

| What you see | What it means and what to do |
|---|---|
| The disk list is empty ("No disk found") | The installer shows only disks it may write to. Connect the disk, then click **Look Again**; it checks again after you plug one in or free space. |
| "WolOS needs at least 16 GB" | Make more room or choose another disk. |
| "This disk uses an older layout. Only Erase Disk can use it." | The disk is divided the old way (from before UEFI). Use Erase Disk, or keep the other system and convert the disk with its own tools first. |
| "Windows didn't shut down fully" | Windows is hibernated or stopped by Fast Startup, so shrinking it could damage its files. Turn off Fast Startup in Windows, shut down fully, and start the installer again. |
| "BitLocker protects Windows here" | The installer cannot shrink a BitLocker partition. Turn BitLocker off in Windows, then try again. |
| macOS partition | Make room with Disk Utility in macOS, then start the installer again. |
| "The disk changed since you chose it" | Something else touched the disk after you chose it. Go back and choose it again. |
| "Use at least 8 characters" / "Passwords don't match" | The disk or account password is too short, or the two typings differ. |
| "That name is already used on this computer" | The account name belongs to the system. Choose another. |
| The Failed page (below) | The page names the step that failed ("The disk couldn't be prepared", "The system files couldn't be copied", "The disk couldn't be encrypted", "The startup files couldn't be installed", "Your settings couldn't be saved") and what to try. **Details** shows the end of the install log. When the installer refuses to go on, the page says why and that nothing on the disk was changed. |
| "WolOS is installed, but its recovery key could not be read" | The install worked. Click **Try Again**; Restart stays off until the key is shown. |

![WolOS Couldn't Be Installed: the disk couldn't be prepared, check that it's connected, then try again or choose another disk; with Details, Restart and Try Again.](/img/manual/installer-failed-1280.png)

Still stuck? Click **Details** on the Failed page and take a photo of what it shows, then report it on [GitHub](https://github.com/wonderlandos/wolos/issues). See also [Recovery](/manual/recovery).