Help me please!

[ferret man]

I recently upgraded from 9.04 to 9.10, and long story short, all of the permissions got changed on my computer, and I can not log on as anyone (even the superuser). Now, I tried to reprogram ubuntu on my computer, but it doesn't give me the permission to mount my USB drive. I need help. I have a Dell Mini 9 with Ubuntu 9.10 NetBook Remix installed on. If someone could maybe tell me how to maually install the new ubuntu, or uninstall my last one, it would be great.

P.S. Please, help me. Thanks for your time.
I apologize.
Timeline:
1st: Program Ubuntu 9.10, everything is fine.
2nd: Permissions get changed, cannot log on.
3rd: Attempt, but fail to reprogram ubuntu 9.10, because the permission is denied.
4th: I need help.

Meaning of all of this: I cannot use my computer, and when I try to reinstall the OS, it is denied. I need to reprogram it so that it can run. Perhaps I can delete the partition and create a new one? I don't know. I am new to Linux and know nothing, in depth, about computer programing.

I do have a "live USB drive" with Ubuntu 9.10 on it, so if I can find out how to install that on my laptop, that would be great.

Finally, the OS currently on my computer is not a "healthy", or freshly installed one. It is the damaged, permissions are out of whack, one.

[jheaton5]

Is the USB "drive" a USB stick or an external hard drive.
Is the BIOS boot sequence set to boot from USB deivce first?
If you are using a USB stick with an image of Ubuntu Live CD on it, and the boot sequence is correct it should work. If it is not booting, then there is something wrong with your usb stick.

[jheaton5]

I thought I had answered this before. Let's do this from only one thread.

[winotree]

Yeah -- seems to be a triple post.