Ubuntu and many other Linux distributions use the GRUB2 boot loader. If GRUB2 breaks—for example, if you install Windows after installing Ubuntu, or overwrite your MBR—you won’t be able to boot into Ubuntu.

Bash is the default command-line shell on most Linux distributions, from Ubuntu and Debian to Red Hat and Fedora. Bash is also the default shell included with macOS, and you can install a Linux-based bash environment on Windows 10.

A Linux live USB drive is normally a blank slate each time you boot it. You can boot it up, install programs, save files, and change settings. But, as soon as you reboot, all your changes are wiped away and you’re back to a fresh system. This can be useful, but if you want a system that picks up where you left off, you can create a live USB with persistent storage.

When you search using the Unity Dash, you may notice online content displaying in your search results. Your search terms are sent to productsearch.ubuntu.com and third parties such as Amazon and Facebook and used to provide you online search results in addition to local results.

In June 2014, Microsoft raised the amount of storage you get with a free OneDrive account to 15GB, from 7GB. Now that you have all this free online storage, why not use it? I use Ubuntu, not Windows, you say. No worries. There is a solution.

On occasion you will need to edit the hosts file on your machine. Sometimes because of an attack or prank, and others so that you can simply and freely control access to websites and network traffic.

Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to try a new version of Ubuntu while knowing you can return to the previous version if you don’t like it? We’ll show you a tool that allows you to take a snapshot of your system at any time.

If you need to reinstall Ubuntu or if you just want to install a new version from scratch, wouldn’t it be useful to have an easy way to reinstall all your apps and settings? You can easily accomplish this using a free tool called Aptik.

You’ve set up the programs you need. Your windows are arranged just right. Then, something else demands your attention and you have to shut down. No worries. You can have Ubuntu remember all your running applications and restore them the next time you log in.

If you’ve tried to install Google Chrome in Ubuntu Linux, you may have noticed that it’s not available in the Ubuntu Software Center. However, it’s easy to download a package file for Google Chrome and install it on your system, and we’ll show you how.

When you enter a long command into the Terminal window that you found on the web or in a document, you can save yourself some time by easily copying and pasting the command at the prompt.

The Unity Launcher in Ubuntu is locked to the left side of the screen. If you would rather have a launcher at the bottom of the screen, there is a way to convert the Unity Launcher into a dock-style launcher at the bottom of the screen.

Have you switched from Mac to Linux and miss the Mac OS X-style launcher? Or, maybe you just want a dock other than the Unity Launcher on your Linux machine. Cairo-Dock is a customizable dock you can add to your Linux desktop.

If you’re a keyboard person, a lot of things can be accomplished simply using the command line. For example, there are a few easy-to-use methods for creating text files, should you need to do so.

It’s always a good idea to know some basics about the operating system you’re running on your computer. For example, you may need to know whether you’re running a 64-bit or 32-bit system so you know which file to download for a program you want to install.

You may like using the Unity Launcher in Ubuntu 14.04, but you may not like it taking up room on your desktop. However, there is a way to have the Unity Launcher automatically hide when you’re not using it.

If you use Windows, you are probably familiar with the Add/Remove Programs tool in the Windows control panel. It lists the programs currently installed on your system and provides an easy method for uninstalling them with only a few clicks.

When you run a command using sudo in Linux, the Terminal prompts you to type in your password with no visual feedback as you type. We’ll show a quick tweak that will show asterisks (*) when you type in your password in the Terminal.

Nautilus contains some pre-defined bookmarks that provide quick and easy access to some common folders, such as Music and Pictures, as well as devices such as USB flash drives and network locations. You can add custom bookmarks to quickly access folders you use often.

When you use the sudo command to run commands as root or administrator you are prompted to enter your password. You may have noticed that if you run another command using sudo shortly after the first command, you are not prompted for your password again.

Recently, we showed you how to open a directory in Terminal from within Nautilus. However, what if you’re working on the command line in Terminal and need to access the same directory in Nautilus? There’s an easy solution for that.

Install many third-party .deb packages on Ubuntu – even mainstream, high-quality software like Google Chrome and Skype – and you will see an error saying the package is of bad quality. We will explain what this scary-looking error actually means.

We’ve covered using Google Drive on Linux with third-party software, but why bother jumping through those hoops? You can use a cloud storage service that officially supports Linux instead – several of Google Drive’s competitors do.

When Google announced Google Drive, they promised Linux support. That was about 7 months ago. While Google said Google Drive for Linux was “still a priority” back in July, it seems it’s no longer a priority.

We previously covered watching Netflix on Linux and concluded that using a virtual machine was your best bet. There’s now an even better solution – a “Netflix Desktop” app that allows you to watch Netflix on Linux.