Try burning a live dvd instead, and like others said, a newer version of Ubuntu.

That was not helpful.

USB drivers don't come into effect until some sort of OS is running. So in order to Boot from USB it would have to be a BIOS update OR perhaps some sort of boot loader that can be installed on a device that CAN be booted and then load USB drivers and simulate a reboot from USB.
I only know of PLoP boot that can do that.