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I am not a computer professional but using Ubuntu from 10 onwards.My current version was 14.04 and i crashed it trying to upgrade it to 16.04 via terminal.

Then i tried with usb installation, it is showing a message like it is UEFI installation bios versions wont work forced installation or not something like that but there is no option to avoid forced installation other than back button.

i am not well versed in technical things like UEFI, bios etc. my desktop is intel pentium CPU G2030 @ 3.GHZ bios version EBH7710H.86A.0100.2013.0312.1351. already it contains non working 14.04 and a windows 10 bootloader which also not working.

  1. can i install 16.04 in this PC? is this PC compatible to 16.04?
  2. should i give permission to do UEFI? will it damage the BIOS permanently that means mother board software damage??
  3. i need ubuntu only in this PC, no need of other OS.
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I recommend you start by understanding BIOS/CSM/legacy-mode booting vs. EFI/UEFI-mode booting. Here are some references:

Once you understand these differences, check your own current installation's boot mode. If the /sys/firmware/efi directory is present when you've booted it, you've booted in EFI mode; if it's absent, you've booted in BIOS mode. (Note: you must boot your regular installation; what's shown from an emergency disk indicates its boot mode, not the boot mode that would be used if you were to boot normally.)

If your computer boots nothing but Linux, you can then choose your boot mode as you see fit; however, be aware that EFI-mode booting generally works better from GPT disks, and in some cases BIOS-mode booting from GPT disks can be a bit iffy, so it's generally better to use MBR for BIOS-mode booting. If you want to preserve your existing data, it may be worth choosing your boot mode to mesh with your current partition table type.

You say you "need" only Ubuntu on your computer, but if you're currently dual-booting, it's important that you use the same boot mode for both OSes; installing one OS in BIOS mode and another in EFI mode can be done, but requires extra knowledge and hoop-jumping to get it to work.

As a general rule, I recommend EFI-mode booting on modern computers; however, older computers support nothing but BIOS-mode booting, and some of the early EFI-based computers have buggy enough EFIs that BIOS-mode may work better with them. (In fact, even some current models have buggy EFIs. I recommend returning them if they give you problems; manufacturers have had more than enough time to debug their EFIs, and those who haven't done so don't deserve your money.)

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  • thank you, now i got it. My system contains both UEFI and legacy. both options were ticked by default, this gave me confusing messages as duel boot was from legacy previously. now i found out it and un ticked one. i decided to avoid windows so no problem now.
    – Thomas
    Commented Sep 6, 2016 at 15:03
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  1. Yes, you can.
  2. Yes, you should. There's no point in installing in legacy mode unless you have to and you don't. UEFI is what replaces the aging BIOS, it has the same purpose and won't be damage by installing operating systems. For dual boot with a factory installed Windows 8/8.1/10 you must install Ubuntu in UEFI mode as well. How you boot the installation media is how it installs.
  3. OK. Go ahead.
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