Re-installing Ubuntu
 

Help !!!
I started with a PC with windows 2000.
After a bit of messing I installed Ubuntu from the network. I installed the Xubuntu desktop which worked fine untill I started losing the top and bottom "taskbars". Cant get them back.
I tried to install Freeradius but there seems to be a lot of files that I cannot access because of permissions.
I am not experienced in Linux so I am hoping for some help.

I have the UBUNTU on a CD but although I can read it I cannot boot from it. I thought that maybe re-installing the software might miraculously help me.....how niave...

Thanks

Did you burn the Ubuntu CD as an iso image. You need to do that in order to boot from it. Burn at a low speed.

Yes I did. I can read all the files and folders. But I cannot boot from it as the CDROM is SCSI. I have tried SBM but it does not seem to find the CDROM......

Is your BIOS set to boot from a cd first and was the checksum ok?

Wat do you exactly mean by .. read all the files ???
well do you see the startup screen of ubuntu when you actually try booting from the cd .. which gives you different options like starting live cd,testing the cd etc.. ???

Firstly I cant set it to boot from the CD.

When I say I can read all the files etc I mean that when I run up Xubuntu and insert the CD I get an icon appear on the desktop. If I select that I can see the various files.

Is there an easy way to start re-install from here?

do you still have windows ??? if so there is a really easy way even if you cant boot from cd....
download wubi (http://wubi-installer.org/) its a software that allows you to install ubuntu from windows using the iso image....
its really good in cases like these :)
why cant you boot from cd... if its asus motherboard then i guess pressing F8 at the starting should give you the booting options (cd,floppy drive,hard disk) ...

I decided, wrongly, that I was finished with Windows. Maybe I was a little hasty...

It is a Dell Workstation with dual processors but there is no option in Bios for booting from the CD. I suspect it is because it is a SCSI drive...???

Is there no easy way of re-installing a Linux OS ?

Can anybody tell me how I get the task bars back in Xubuntu... ?

try pressing F12/F2 .... maybe that might bring about the options ...(boot options)

Well, you could try ALT+F2 and the punch in "xfce4-panel". That, I think, should get the panel, together with the menu, back again. It doesn't really solve the problem, it just restart the application BUT you could try to go to the menu and under "Settings -> Sessions and Startup" chose "automatically save sessions on logout". If it is something in some configuration file somewhere (though it beats me what) this might save the changes with the panel up and running. It's a long shot and probably won't do you any good but hey, at least it's worth a try

I don't know what BIOS do you have but I have no doubt that there is an option to boot from a cd,you just have to enter into your BIOS setings,not into the BIOS boot menu.It should be F2 that you need to press and hold while your computer is starting.Then find BIOS boot options and set it to boot from a cd first.