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Many thanks again to all who offered such helpful responses to my questions. The good news is that the Ubuntu 18 machine is now restored to fully working order and I'm currently trawling all the data...

If only I'd known that... !!

So that Linux Mint USB I mentioned would have done the job after all? Ah well...

Thank you - I will report any info I can from the technician, indeed.

I'm sorry not to have fed back results from the commands you suggested. I was fully intending to do so but that, as I...

Sorry, my failure to explain.
I've increasingly realised that the level of knowledge needed to work Ubuntu well is far above my own understanding, and as I'm prone to brain fog and come from a very...

I was hoping to report back but two hurdles arise. One is my query over whether my newly downloaded 18.04 iso, which passses the verification but not the authenticity test, would be safe or foolish...

Thank you Guiverc - as in my post #13 here the old releases link led me to one where the verification process worked up to a point. Which is progress!
It's no criticism of your post, but rather a...

Thank you for spending time on this, it's much appreciated.
Because I no longer have the original USB stick I downloaded 18.04 from https://releases.ubuntu.com/18.04.6/ just now, along with the...

I have to apologise that I can't answer these questions, because I'm rather like the passenger in the plane who ends up having to bring it in to land never having flown, with instructions from the...

Thank you - so if I'm understanding correctly, is this more or less the same as option 4 in https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/fix-ubuntu-linux-pc-wont-boot/ ?

If so, since I no longer have my...

Thank you. I just tried to find the "SecureBoot" option and am embarrassed by failure to do so, though have found it on other machines... I get as far as the screens shown in photos here, but am wary...

Thank you - yes, I'm sadly aware it's past its EOL support date, and now have a newer machine ready to install a new system on, because the existing desktop is, I believe, not up to 22.04...

More research.... is reinstalling Ubuntu while preserving files, as at https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/fix-ubuntu-linux-pc-wont-boot/ option 4, my easiest and most foolproof route?

We're still running Ubuntu 18.04 on a desktop machine. While it's always been bomb-proof up to now, it currently won't boot up.

After a while I get this first screen, ...

Thank you, OldFred, you've anticipated the questions I'd be asking next !
I'll mark this thread solved, and if new issues arise will post more specifically.

Thanks for these replies. I didn't buy that one, but another Dell, with i7 and SSD, and hope I don't end up asking for too much help here when I come to install Ubuntu on it!

Thanks, that's helpful. I didn't describe the Asus problems to save space - I should have included this link: https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2457675 where a work-round was offered,...

I've found a Dell Precision (spec below) refurbished online.
Last year I bought an Asus which I'm going to sell on at a loss - it fought against Ubuntu installation, and in my ignorance I hadn't...

I switched in about 2015 as a way to keep our elderly desktop working on when Windows became too heavy and slow. I am seriously not a geek, and it took a lot of help from a friend, but the Ubuntu...

I appreciate your posting the link you did for my benefit - I can follow that, and not this one! Thank you.

While awaiting a comment on my link on how to remove Ubuntu, I find I'm more than ever...

Yes, I noted that, on further reading.
It rather makes me more inclined to swap machines for one that likes Ubuntu better. (There are other aspects of this machine which I find don't suit me as...

Thanks, CelticWarrior, that looks truly useful.

It appears so thoroughly written that I can blindly follow the steps. That's good, because I get lost when I have to take decisions not mentioned...

That is good to know, thanks. Sadly, after starting nicely that once, it is inconsistent again - one stall on blank grey screen, then on restarting, taking 10 min to produce a screen full of error...

Progress!
Since Ubuntu kept stalling I tried with a different USB installer, and it's installed ubuntu 20.04. Given its history I don't trust it not to stall again soon, (see earlier threads), as...

Thanks for this reply.
I didn't post the system spec in my OP here as it's at the top of the thread I linked to.

Since my post #1 in this thread, the machine appeared to have changed its mind -...