Ok, so the problem is: I have burned Ubuntu to a BOOT cd and when I restart my computer it checks if theres something to boot. Then it starts to load something then after it goes to some sort of MS-DOS thing and I can't do anything. I need to put there some sort of commands but nothing works. Above there is few commands: /MLX and some others what I don't remember. It does the same with GpartED when I try to Partitionate my hard drive (I want to run Windows XP as well). Whats the problem?

Sounds like you have not burnt the iso properly. Have a look at "Downloading and burning an ISO of Ubuntu" on http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/iso

open the CD in Windows--or on another machine and see that it has multiple files/folders. If it contains just one file ending in .iso, than you have fallen into the classic trap.

Also be sure the computer will boot from some other CD--eg the Windows install disk.

The CD is just fine all files are there and it opens normally when Windows is open. And I tried it with Windows CD and it booted just as it was suppose to. So the problem is on my CD. I'l try to burn it again.

Still doesn't work. I think the problem is that one or more files may be corrupted/missing so I'l download it again and so on.

Yep, sounds like you have not burnt the CD properly.

I know for instance, that people have tried to create a bootable CD from an ISO file using Nero for Windows and what they actually ended up with was a CD that boots into Caldera DOS and you could type DIR and see the .ISO file there on the CD.

The above is a combination of the Nero wizard being lame and not very user friendly and the user not knowing how to create a bootable disk from an ISO.

You might investigate how to properly get your CD burning software to create a bootable CD FROM an ISO image.

Ok, but theres one more thing thats bothering me. I should burn an ISO file Image to the cd am I right? But I don't have any ISO file in my Ubuntu file.

OK--start over.

What did you download? It should have been a file ending in .iso (i.e. a disk image) The file size should be something slightly less than the capacity of a CD--ie <750MBytes

I don't know what you mean by "no ISO file in my Ubuntu file". What exactly do you have? (You don't find files inside files)

You should have a look at the link that Arochester posted earlier in this thread, if you read the information at that link, you should be able to create a proper bootable Ubuntu CD from an ISO file in the correct way.

I followed that link posted above and the instructions look pretty good (and clear) to me.

Perhaps downloading again might help, maybe you do have a bad copy of Ubuntu ISO.


If you still have problems, it might be an idea to note down all of the things in detail that happen when you try to boot the computer from an Ubuntu Install CD that you have created. Doing so will provide better clues as to what is actually happening when your computer tries to boot that CD ROM.

did you check the md5sum? are you using a liveCD? like pixellany said-you don't see just one file or files within files on an iso disc. if you've downloaded the same thing, try the one that says alternate-i had to use that as well.

My WinRar showed that it was a Rar file. So I thought that hey, I'l just decompress it and then burn it on my cd. This is something that I wasn't suppose to do am I right? And I did look at the tutorial that arochester gave and there was where I was confused that why is there just one Iso file and I have a bunch of files. Now I know.

Alternatively, if you want to watch some short videos about downloading and burning an Ubuntu iso have a look at

1) "Your first Linux experiment (Linux.com training videos)" on http://tips.linux.com/article.pl?sid.../133239&tid=50

2) "New Screencast: Downloading and Burning an Ubuntu ISO" on http://doc.ubuntu.com/screencasts/

if you go to Ubuntu's site, you can download an iso burner. you dont even need the bootex file that burning programs like roxio uses. just download the program onto windows and download the Ubuntu iso. then use the burner to burn the iso onto a CD-R disc. if you are actually running a version of ubuntu like kubuntu, you should be able to right click on the iso and select burn to disc. the default linux burning program is good for burning them. also, make sure that your write speed is not the max that the CD can take, for example, i use 52x discs, but you want to burn them at 2x-4x. it does it a lot better.

Ok I got it now. I accidently decompressed it and then burned it. That was the reason it didn't boot. thanks for your help everyone . I'm installing it now.

That's great---be sure to come back with more questions!!

Curiousity lingers: How do you decompress an .iso file---why wouldn't the program complain about wrong file type or something?