Ubuntu starts only when I boot from my flash drive

I have installed the Ubuntu 12.04 using a bootable USB. The installation went fine but after the installation there was just a blank screen with the cursor blinking and Ubuntu wasn't starting. Maybe that was an installation error but when I booted again from my USB surprisingly Ubuntu started working. Even if I remove the USB after the initial boot, Ubuntu keeps working fine. Do I have to boot from my USB each time I restart my computer?

Solution 1:

The problem

Grub, Ubuntu's bootloader, was installed on the flash drive, and not on your internal hard drive, as it should have been.

Solution

Boot with the flash drive plugged in. Remove it once Ubuntu is booted up.

Run the following commands from a Terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yannubuntu/boot-repair
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y boot-repair
boot-repair

Click on the "Recommended repair" button, and reboot.

Explanation

Boot-Repair installed Grub to your internal hard drive. This allows your computer to boot without depending on the bootloader that was installed on the flash drive.

Glossary

Bootloader: a piece of code that runs before any operating system is running. A bootloader is used to boot other operating systems. Each operating system usually has its own bootloader.

GRUB (Grand Unified Bootloader): a bootloader package developed to support multiple operating systems and allow the user to select among them during boot-up. It is Ubuntu's default bootloader.

Command, command line: the traditional Unix environment , where you type commands to tell the computer what to do.

Terminal: an application that allows you to access the command line. Open it by hitting its keyboard shortcut, Ctrl Alt T