This was a lot of information for me and I had to weigh the options.

(1) In my mind, using an external hard drive for my laptop defeats
convenience of portability. For that reason, I will rule out that
option.

(2) I am glad you pointed out the problem with tutorials when Windows 7
is involved.

(3) I choose not to remove Windows 7
(www.howtoforge.com/...erfect-desktop-kubuntu-12.04 guides us
through that process. The picture that reads "Installation Type", I
clicked on manual instead, then next, but did not understand what I
saw.) There are certain programs I need to access from Windows and duel
boot gives me that flexibility.

(4) You wrote: "W7 is spread across two partitions and also some
manufacturers have a restore partition." I clicked on Computer and found
the following: Local Disc (C:) and Recovery (D:). Does that mean I only
have two partitions or does it mean a third one is hidden in the
background.

My laptop is a HP Pavilion dv6 laptop with Windows 7. The Bios allows
me to boot first from a CD or DVD (but no provisions from a thumb
drive.)

(5) My only experience installing any type of Linux was Ubuntu 10.04.1
on my Dell 3000 desktop using Windows XP. Since the Bios did not allow
me to control the booting sequence, I had to let the installation disc
begin the process from Windows. Ultimately, what I thought was a duel
boot, ended up as a Ubuntu file created in Windows (Barry pointed it out
to me on 6/23). In this arrangement, booting up Ubuntu only takes me 30
seconds, which is very fast.

If duel boot is not an option, I can live with installation described in
(5).