Malfunctioning Windows, how to Install Ubuntu?

[jrb56]

Hi: I'm totally ignorant about Ubuntu--sorry about that.
I have an old dell inspiron, on which windows XP freaked out during an update and deleted the windows 32 file. So now when I start my machine it just opens the black screen and tells me that the file is corrupted or missing, and I should try the restore disc. Problem is, I don't have a restore disc. (In storage somewhere)

I made the Ubuntu CD by downloading Ubuntu off the website from my other computer.

Any way I can now install ubuntu on my old machine to recover the files and hopefully continue using the machine?

[fancypiper]

You could easily install Ubuntu, assuming your hardware is OK, but as far as recovering your Windows stuff, I don't know. Would you have a spare hard drive you could put in the old machine to have some room to do what you want?

[timjohn7]

Confirm you checked the MD5sum of the ISO which you downloaded?
Was it the LiveCD version of Ubuntu? 32 or 64bit?
If correct, and you burned the CD sucessfully, you are about to enter a world which may change your life. It did mine.

Start your PC with the LiveCD in your CD Drive.
Interrupt your startup to set your Boot Sequence in BIOS (F2, Delete, or other key specific to your system)
Set the 1st boot option to CD
Continue booting and the Ubuntu Welcome screen will appear asking you to select your language preference.
After selecting your preferred language, you will be offered various options, one of which is to try Ubuntu without installation (the system and apps run from the LiveCD)
I was able to recover almost all of my Windows files by just doing this.
However, I was so interested and then impressed by Linux and Ubuntu that I went futher and installed Ubuntu on a separate partition on my hard drive and dual-booted for about 6 months. In that time I found Open Source alternatives to ALL the applications that I was running in Windows, either at great financial or ethical cost (yes, I did have some cracked Windows apps :()

I found that I booted into Windows less and less, and after 6 months, reformatted my HDD and now only run Ubuntu. Happily, efficiently, reliably and fast.

Be aware that Ubuntu is not WIndows. As a probably experienced Windows user you will find things different and at times frustrating but come to this forum to experience this community... friendly, helpful and vastly experienced (not me... many others though!)

Enjoy the adventure! It totally re-ignited my enjoyment of computing.

[lovinglinux]

confirm you checked the md5sum of the iso which you downloaded?
Was it the livecd version of ubuntu? 32 or 64bit?
If correct, and you burned the cd sucessfully, you are about to enter a world which may change your life. It did mine.

Start your pc with the livecd in your cd drive.
Interrupt your startup to set your boot sequence in bios (f2, delete, or other key specific to your system)
set the 1st boot option to cd
continue booting and the ubuntu welcome screen will appear asking you to select your language preference.
After selecting your preferred language, you will be offered various options, one of which is to try ubuntu without installation (the system and apps run from the livecd)
i was able to recover almost all of my windows files by just doing this.
However, i was so interested and then impressed by linux and ubuntu that i went futher and installed ubuntu on a separate partition on my hard drive and dual-booted for about 6 months. In that time i found open source alternatives to all the applications that i was running in windows, either at great financial or ethical cost (yes, i did have some cracked windows apps :()

i found that i booted into windows less and less, and after 6 months, reformatted my hdd and now only run ubuntu. Happily, efficiently, reliably and fast.

Be aware that ubuntu is not windows. As a probably experienced windows user you will find things different and at times frustrating but come to this forum to experience this community... Friendly, helpful and vastly experienced (not me... Many others though!)

enjoy the adventure! It totally re-ignited my enjoyment of computing.

+1

[soelk]

Right. So what you want to do once you are running Ubuntu off the CD (without installation) is to find a place to save your important data to. Any and all data that you want to keep for the future.

You can either save it to a USB drive, or you can upload it to another computer that you have access to, for example your work computer, through the internet connection. Or any other solution that works for you.

Once your data is safely backed up you can install any operating system on the computer. For example Ubuntu. :)

[jrb56]

Thanks for the information everyone. I'm working on it right now.
I'll probably just play with the OS for a while and find out myself, but what would you say are the major barriers that Ubuntu faces in gaining market share? Are there limitations on the software you can use? Is it better to run Vista and Ubuntu than upgrade-to/pay for windows 7?

[fancypiper]

Well, I only run Linux. I gave up on Microsoft products in 1999, but the nice thing about Linux is that it can get along with Windows, so you can dual boot until you learn that it is easier to use than Windows...