Installing Zorin 9 from USB made by Unetbootin but USB is looking to cdrom
 

Hello Community!
Thank you so much for being here to help out. With the ending of support of Windows XP, having an older laptop and limited funds, I'm excited to jump in with both feet using Linux. No going back, learn to use it or no computer for me. I am choosing Zorin mainly because it's said to have the option of a Windows XP interface. I'm not pretending that it is windows but I'm hoping that seeing some familiar images will decrease my learning curve.
So, enough of that. Here is my problem:

I have Windows XP.
I own an Alienware 9700i laptop.
My CD Drive is broken.
I want to get rid of XP altogether, no dual-boot.
I've downloaded the 64bit Zorin 9 Core iso
I've created an installation USB stick by using UNetbootin.
I've used a 16GB stick.
I've formatted the stick to FAT32 using the Windows XP tool that is available when you right click on the drive icon.
I did not allocated any persistant space. I tried this and UNetbootin couldn't finish the creation process.
I set my BIOS to boot from the USB first.
I get a UNetbootin screen offering the following options:

Default
Help
Try Zorin OS without installing
Test Memory
Boot from Hard Disk
Try Zorin OS without installing
Install Zorin OS
Press [TAB] to edit options (this is in Red and Centered on the row)

I pressed TAB while Default was highlighted and I read this:
/ubnkern initrd=/ubninit file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper quiet splash --

I pressed TAB while Install Zorin OS was highlighted and I read this:
/casper/vmlinuz.efi initrd=casper/initrd.lz file=/cdrom/preseed/ubuntu.seed boot=casper only-ubiquity quiet splash --

Both "Install Zorin OS" options had the same line.

When choosing the "Instal Zorin OS" or the "Default" options I get as far as receiving a Z screen, a grey screen with a top bar on it, a blank screen and a reboot to the original menu.
It seems to me that if there was a way to change a way to make the install program look for files in the USB instead of the cdrom it might work, but I don't know how to do that.

Thanks in advance for your help.

I may be corrected if this information is wrong, but consider using gparted to reformat the HDD to fat32 then try installing Zorin. I recently did this with a Dell Inspiron 8600 - I also used the 32 bit version since I couldn't tell what was actually inside the unuseable lappy