cant install

[ruseriousb511]

I am having trouble installing Ubuntu 11.04 on my laptop. I had it installed and working for about 3 weeks and when I turned it on one day I got this error message "NTLDR is missing, press ctrl+alt+del to restart". This is a Windows based error message and I re-installed my original windows XP. Rmember, this is a brand new hard drive with no prior windows installation that had just Ubuntu 11.04 on it. So I re-installed XP and now anytime I put in the ubuntu install disc I get nothing but a blank screen. The disc runs and everything works but I cannot see the install process or see to be able to choose my options. I get this with about 5-6 different live cds and I cannot install from a live USB. I freakin hate windows and I want my Ubuntu back but I CANNOT install it in any way shape or form.

Does anyone know what I can do to get it to work or what may be causing this. As I said I had installed 11.04 on a brand new clean hard drive and a few weeks later I was not able to runn it and had to install my original windows xp and now cannot re-install Ubuntu. Please help, this is driving me nucking futs.

[foresthill]

Plug your laptop into an external monitor to complete the install process.

Have you tried adjusting the screen brightness with the keys on your laptop?

Which graphics chip does your laptop use?

[pierreyy]

Hi,

are your files backed up? if so, how about you format the hardisk and repeat what you did originally, install xp, then ubuntu( because i dont think windows will give you the " alongside another os" feature.

another thing... does it run normally on windows?

gd luck!

[diasf]

You just said that the PC did not had windows. Why did you install it? Ignore windows, if you don't need it, it's just uselessly lying around, getting in the way...

That message can be the "default" one from the hard drive when it does not find a boot sector (how would such a message appear if your pc never saw windows?). To be fair, the other option would be virus.

My bet is some kind of hardware problem, there's nothing left to be anyway... and it's more than the HD, otherwise a liveCD would boot. Maybe south bridge going nuts?

[ruseriousb511]

ok I have an ATI X600 graphics card and I HAD to install windows because I couldnt do anything else. I installed windows to try to install ubuntu over and in it but that will not work either. I dont have an external monitor to plug into and I installed 11.04 through Wubi because I HAD to install windows and it will not even boot from there. Its like my lappy has some sort of Ubuntu block on it.

Windows works ok except for the home screen (and every other screen for that matter) is a little too big for my laptop screen and I cant even fix that. I am starting to think it may be a hardware issue but I dont know why windows xp would work and ubuntu will not. and yes I can adjust the brightness on my screen even when it is blank.

[diasf]

Did you install the graphics drivers on windows?

Other than that, if a live CD (that used to run) doesn't run anymore, you PC needs maintenance, there is something wrong with it. On a hardware level (assuming, ofc, you eliminated the rest of the obvious stuff like the media used for install, etc etc etc)