Installing a dual boot environment of Ubuntu 14.04.3 LTS and Windows 7

mjfoster

While installing Ubuntu 14.04.3 "along side" my current Windows 7 OS, from a USB drive, all went well until "Allocating Drive Space".

I have 4 GB RAM, so I used the default allocations of:

Windows Recovery Environment: 11.3

GB Ubuntu: 6.5 GB

My laptop and internet connection function well, no concerns there. The installation has simply hung for an hour now with the spinner continuing ....

Being new at using Ubuntu as well as partitioning my disk, I'm not sure what's safe to do at this point ...

• Will I destroy my Windows partition if I power down and re-boot from the HDD at this point? I understand I may need to alter the BIOS again to boot 1st from the HDD, that's no problem ...
  

• Should I sit it out longer and wait? If so how, ~ how long is long enough?
  

• Is it advised, to setup SWAP space and/or alter the DEFAULT partitioning when installing?