Are you trying to boot the iso from the HDD? This seems unlikely. I, for one, am not sure what you are doing.

There are many guides for installing Linux mint and some are shown on their website so I will not elaborate but if you can get into the bios (fwhatever/del/f5+??,there are many key combinations) set the boot order to CD first (assuming it is a traditional bios) then save and exit you should be able to boot the dvd. If you physically disconnect the HDD it can only boot what is left and will do so into the ram, no good for installing but will tell you if the dvd works.

Fred.

After restarting the computer a few times. I got the start screen with Home, Computer and start Linux. When I clicked on Home, I did got the home page and Firefox, etc. was on the bottom, etc. However, the cursor kept freezing so we could not really use it. Would another distro be better? Which one? I am in a pinch now because we used the computer with Linux to download Mint and it obviously doesn't work. My son took his computer with him since he lives a few hundred miles away and my computer does not have a slot for CDs or DVDs so I cannot put anything on a disc. I do have a thumb drive but someone said that we could not download a program and reinstall it with Linux on a computer. Any suggestions?

Thanks
GB

gbsk,

We are in the dark here.

What is the make/model number/age etc of your computer?

Using a USB flash drive (at least 2GB) is a possibility but you would need access to a friend's PC in order to download the appropriate Linux .iso file and then transfer it to the flash drive.

If your XP machine is advanced in years, that can dictate which particular Linux distribution is most suitable for it.

This is why we need your hardware details.

Sorry about that. It is a compaq gc662aa with 2 GB of RAM. I am not sure of the age since someone gave it to my wife about 3 years ago and it was already used. `I can download on the computer i am using now, which is a Win 8.1 notebook but I cannot download anything on a DVD on this computer sine I don't have a disc drive for this.I would like something easy for my wife since she is not technically inclined.

Thanks
GB

With your Win 8 notebook, you can download the Mint .iso file from here →
https://linuxmint.com/download.php
With an old XP machine, you don't want to try the Cinnamon or KDE versions. My first choice would be 17.3 MATE.
The fact that it froze up means that the hardware might be deficient, but Mate or xfce should work.
If 17.3 Mate does not work, try 17.2 Mate. They use different linux kernels and different xorg (graphics) so the performance will be different.
The next potential problem is that your XP machine might have a cpu which is not PAE capable. Mint 17.x has a forcePAE function to allow it to be used with non-PAE cpu's, but it isn't 100% reliable. If you have a cpu which is not PAE, you might find that Mint 13 Mate or xfce will be the best choice.
If you know the cpu is 64 bit, download the 64 bit Mint, otherwise, be sure to download the 32 bit version.
On your Win 8 notebook, you should install the Rufus program →
http://rufus.akeo.ie/
That program is reliable for creating bootable USB's for installing linux.
When you successfully boot the Mint USB, you can open a terminal with CTRL-ALT-t and enter the command: If the results of that command list pae - then use Mint 17.x - if not, use Mint 13

That option is on many Linux Live/Install DVD's and it will boot the operating system on the first partition of the primary drive. In your case, that would be xp if you still have it so that won't help you. It is possible to boot "some" Linux distributions directly from the iso you have on a partition on the hard drive with the "Grub2" bootloader. That might be what this fellow was talking about but as a new user, I wouldn't even try it. Grub2 is a Linux bootloader and you only have a windows system installed so that won't work.

For your own sake, in the future I would suggest you not take any advice from this "someone" regarding computers.

Using software to create a bootlable flash drive and using that to install on your machine with xp might be possible. That is, if your old machine with xp is capable of booting from a flash drive. Otherwise, someone should be able to explains how to do a netinstall which has been mentioned above.

gbsk,

I suggest that you find a friend who is clued up with Windows.

On your Compaq PC, access the BIOS (see below) and see if there is an option in Boot or Boot Order for USB to boot FIRST ahead of HDD.
This option may not exist at all on an older machine’s BIOS.

Save and Exit the changes to the BIOS by pressing F10.

NB This option may not be displayed until a USB drive is inserted.

Older Compaq computers may use the F1, F2, F10, or Del key to give access to BIOS.

On Windows PC:
The USB drive will need to be formatted as FAT32 before you start.

http://serverfault.com/questions/526...indows-7-vista

This wipes ALL existing data on the USB drive!

Be careful that you do NOT wipe your friend’s main hard drive (C:)!!

On a Windows PC you can download the (scroll down to BLUE button, not GREEN) UUI 1.9.6.4.exe:

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/univers...easy-as-1-2-3/

Run the exe file as Administrator.

Step 1: Select a suitable Linux distribution such as Xubuntu or Lubuntu. This will need to be downloaded first to your Desktop or Downloads directory.

Step 2: Browse to this location (Desktop or Downloads) when the distro has finished downloading.

Step 3: Your USB drive letter is probably F or G or similar.

Format the drive to FAT32 if this has not already been done and then click on Create.

Next, go to your Compaq PC, insert the drive and hope that the PC boots from the USB drive.

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