Total washout, guys. At least the computers are still running but the clean installs didn't take. I did what you said, Ztcoracat, in post #10. All went well. Got the USB in the first place in the BIOS, saved changes, restarted but then the
regular Xubuntu desktop came up. On my other, newer, computer I couldn't even figure out how to change the boot sequence. The screenshots go 21 and next is 31 (at that screen I clicked on "Hard Disk Priority") and then 28. At 28 I didn't know what to do and bailed.

Googling around I found some guy using Unetbootin had the same problem and he got this Etcher to work. https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2342097 Think that's worth a try? Or something else?

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In the second screenshot of your BIOS arrow down to "First Boot Device" and press Enter.

Go through the list (use the arrow key) and select the usb device in the menu. Press Enter.

Save the changes <answer yes> and your machine should boot right into the usb device.

Unetbootin failed to work for me one time.

Etcher is another option or USB Creator too.

https://www.techspot.com/downloads/6931-etcher.html

https://www.linuxliveusb.com/

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For the 3rd screenshot of your BIOS where it says:

-Internal Graphic Mode and
-VGA Control just leave that set to what the BIOS already had it set to.

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Yes. Anybody DOES have simple instructions for a clean install!

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Which method do you prefer?

Using a Live CD/DVD or a bootable USB device?

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I prefer using E2B (Easy 2 boot) with multiple images loaded on a USB device.
That way I can test with the live-cd iso, then install from a full iso.
I also have iso for multiple rescue, recovery, and utility distributions and tools handy on the same device.

My all-in-one install, reinstall, recovery, rescue, show-off, save the day using only my keychain device. ;-)

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Hvae you tried Plop bootmanager for crazy bios'?

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what's the story with unetbootin nowadays?
i remember it used to be pretty much broken a few years ago, and since then i shun it, but apparently it hasn't died yet, so is it fixed?
maybe i should update my standard response ("don't use unetbootin")?

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Never tried E2B. I'll check it out:-

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I used Unetbootin about 8 months ago and it didn't work for me. I tried twice to make a 16 Gig pendrive bootable with Unetbootin and even though it was set in the BIOS it wouldn't boot.

Ended up using the dd cmd to make the pendrive bootable:-

I don't know if Unetbootin has been fixed or not but I certainly don't trust it.

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How are things going Gregg?

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Hi Ztcoracat. Yeah, I got the fresh installs. I ended up burning the ISO to a DVD (via K3b) and it took. I had a feeling the really old Dell wouldn't install via the USB. That may have been the case or Unetbootin may not have worked. The DVD had to do two introductory runs on the really old Dell and I thought it might hang, but finally it installed it. The installation went quicker on the new computer. And that computer was already set to boot from the USB so I didn't have to mess with its BIOS. Your instructions for the installation were perfect. Thanks. Now I'm setting it up. This is a relief. I'm surprised how easy it was.

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That's great news Gregg!- You're Welcome:-

Glad those instructions worked. You have the same BIOS that I have:-

Xubuntu 18.04 is good until April, 2021.
https://xubuntu.org/release/18-04/

Did Xubuntu 18.04 come with Firefox and Libre Office?

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thanks for replying.
that surely tallies with my experience, and many problems on forums.
i had a look at their website, can't really tell.
But "for Ubuntu and other Linux distributions" is telling...
Then I had a look around the github repo - it's clearly not dead, but there's little happening and in one issue the (mostly only) dev even admits that he doesn't really work on it anymore.

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I must admit I have never been able to create bootable usb sticks with any other tool than dd :-)
I didn't really try hard though.

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