Ubuntu Clean Install Not Displaying Desktop Properly

[lordzeth]

I've been trying to get Ubuntu working on one of my older laptops and I've run into a problem where only a fraction of the desktop displays properly. I've tried this a couple times with different hard drives and install settings. Once I tried installing while connected to the internet to get updates, and another time I did not. I'm unsure what I'm missing here, as I have never encountered this particular problem before.

desktopError.jpg

The installation process displays fine when running from my thumb drive. However, the OS isn't displaying right once everything is done and running from the HDD. When I try to open something from what I can see, it trails off into the black area. So it knows that there is space. Anyone know what is going on or how to fix this?

Thank you!

Edit:
I just now tried shutting the laptop and opening it back up. The problem resolves after this and everything displays right. This appears to be an issue on startup.

[RobGoss]

Hello and welcome to the forum, would you mind sharing the specs for this machine it would help others trouble shoot your issue as well

If this is a older machine it could be a driver problem in most cases having graphical issues is a clear indication

[ajgreeny]

If this is one of the EeePC machines from Asus using an Atom 270 or similar, with just 1GB ram, it will not have sufficient resources to run Ubuntu properly, but may manage to run Lubuntu reasonably.

Most older machines from that time would be better using lubuntu, or perhaps Xubuntu, as Ubuntu requires relatively high spec machines now.
See system requirements from the Ubuntu download page.

Recommended system requirements:

2 GHz dual core processor or better
2 GB system memory
25 GB of free hard drive space
Either a DVD drive or a USB port for the installer media
Internet access is helpful