Install PolyOS 7
Choose the drive PolyOS goes on. Everything on it is replaced, so PolyOS has the whole drive to itself. Setup shows what's on each drive (Windows, say) before you tick I understand that this disk will be erased.
Install guide
Put PolyOS 7 on your computer
About 30 minutes, start to finish. You'll need the PolyOS ISO and a USB drive of 8 GB or more.
A fresh install. The download installs PolyOS on a whole drive and replaces everything on the drive you choose, including Windows if it's there. Keeping Windows? Get the dual-boot ISO (PC, advanced): it installs PolyOS next to Windows. Back up your files and turn off BitLocker / Device encryption and Fast Startup in Windows first. Setup then offers Install next to Windows.
Before you start
- Back up your files. Installing erases the drive you choose. Copy anything important to another drive or the cloud first.
- Check your computer. A 64-bit Intel or AMD PC (almost every PC from the last 12 years), or an ARM64 computer with UEFI. 4 GB of memory is enough; 2 GB works in PolyOS's light mode. A drive of at least 25 GB for PolyOS.
- Plug in your laptop so it doesn't run out of battery halfway.
Make the USB drive
Download PolyOS for PC (Intel/AMD) from the download section (ARM64 only for Apple Silicon virtual machines and ARM computers). Everything on the USB drive is erased.
- balenaEtcher (Windows, Mac, Linux): etcher.balena.io › Flash from file › the PolyOS ISO › your USB drive › Flash.
- Rufus (Windows): rufus.ie › choose the ISO › Start › when it asks, pick Write in DD Image mode.
Start from the USB drive
Plug in the USB drive, restart, and press the boot menu key right as the computer turns on. Pick the USB drive (it may say UEFI: SanDisk or similar).
| Computer | Boot menu | Firmware settings (BIOS) |
|---|---|---|
| Lenovo | F12 (or Fn+F12), or the small Novo button › Boot Menu | F2 |
| HP | F9 (or Esc then F9) | F10 |
| Dell | F12 | F2 |
| ASUS | Esc or F8 | F2 or Del |
| Acer | F12 (turn on F12 Boot Menu in the BIOS first) | F2 |
| MSI | F11 | Del |
| Microsoft Surface | Hold Volume down while pressing power | Hold Volume up |
| Any Windows PC | Shift + click Restart › Troubleshoot › Advanced options › UEFI Firmware Settings, or Use a device | |
The PolyOS boot menu appears with a 30-second countdown; Start PolyOS 7 is already selected. PolyOS then runs from the USB drive and doesn't change anything until you install.
The USB drive doesn't start?
- Reset the firmware to its defaults (in the BIOS: Load Setup Defaults / Restore Defaults, usually F9), save, and try again. This fixes most computers that skip the USB drive. If Windows used BitLocker, it will ask for the recovery key once afterwards.
- Secure Boot can stay on. PolyOS starts with it.
- Try another USB port (a USB-A port on the computer itself, not a hub), or write the drive again with the other tool.
Install PolyOS
PolyOS opens with It's time to get started. First it checks the computer (processor, memory, graphics and the exact model); most computers get everything on, and older ones get a lighter PolyOS. Then:
Try PolyOS first
Look around without installing. Install PolyOS 7 on the desktop and in the dock takes you back to the installer.
Pick an edition (Regular, Developer or Gaming) and your web browser (Google Chrome or Firefox), make your account, choose dark or light, join Wi-Fi and, if you like, connect a Poly Account. Then install. When it's done, click Restart now with the USB drive still in, and remove it once the screen goes dark. PolyOS starts straight to your desktop; drivers, your edition's apps and Firefox (if you picked it) finish installing in the background once you're online. Installing again on a computer that already has PolyOS? The USB drive's menu starts the USB drive by default; its last line, Start PolyOS 7 on this computer, starts the PolyOS that's already installed.
After installing
- Get connected and install drivers. The welcome screens connect to Wi-Fi and open Driver Manager, which finds NVIDIA and AMD graphics, Wi-Fi, touchscreens and pens, webcams and the built-in cameras of newer Intel laptops.
- Your edition's apps (Gaming or Developer) download the first time you sign in.
- Updates: Settings › About › Update now installs new PolyOS versions without a new USB drive; Update everything installs Debian's updates. PolyOS tells you when a new version is out.
- Slower computer? Settings › Power & Performance shows what the hardware check found, switches between Everything on, Smooth and Light, and can limit background activity.
If something goes wrong
- My drive isn't in the list, or only the USB drive is
- Many Intel laptops ship with Intel RST / VMD (RAID) turned on, which hides the drive from Linux. In the BIOS, set the storage mode to AHCI or turn off VMD. Windows needs a small change first so it still starts: search Microsoft's guide “switch from RAID to AHCI” before you change it.
- A black screen after choosing PolyOS
- Choose Start PolyOS 7 (safe mode) on the USB drive's boot menu, or Advanced options for PolyOS on an installed computer, then install your graphics driver in Driver Manager.
- Updating PolyOS 0.7 or older (no Update button yet)
- Download the two update packages, polyos-shell and polyos-desktop,
then in a terminal in your Downloads folder:
sudo apt install ./polyos-*_all.deb, and sign out and in again. After that, Settings › Updates keeps PolyOS up to date for you. - Still stuck?
- Contact us with your
computer's model and a photo of the screen. The installer keeps its log at
/var/log/polyos-installer.log.