Machine is not booting up from CD

Hi, I am looking to format my hard disk which has XP, an old version of Mandriva and a 9.04 UBUNTU (which I understand is no longer supported). I have burnt an iso image of the 12.04 UBUNTU and would like to install that. However, I run into a problem where in spite of commanding it to boot from CD, the machine still boor from HD and boots into uBUNTU 9.04.
I thought if I wipe the HD clear of all the 'things' on the HD then booting from CD would be ok.
Is my thinking correct.
FYI my old machine is a Pentium4 Celeron, system memory DDR266/333/400.
Glad to have your advice.
Thanks.

Mods Note : Post moved to a new Thread.

Have you checked BIOS settings? Make sure to set CD Drive as First Boot Device in BIOS.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mhismail

However, I run into a problem where in spite of commanding it to boot from CD, the machine still boor from HD and boots into uBUNTU 9.04.

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If the system is set to boot from the CD first, but it is bypassing that and going straight to your hard drive for booting instructions, I'm thinking the CD is probably not burned correctly. Check the following HowTo for instructions on properly downloading and checking the ISO file, burning that file to disk as an image, then booting from the newly created installation CD:

http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/ins...ll-cd-dvd.html

Post back if you continue to have problems.

DON'T wipe your HDD, it won't help it. If system is not booting from cd:
1. check your bios settings and set cd as Ist priority to boot from.
2. don't forget to save changed bios settings
3. If problem persists check that you have made the cd correctly and bootable

If you want to use the bootable pendrive,
Make the pendrive bootable from a linux command : dd if=<path of iso file> of=<path of pendrive eg: /dev/sdb >
It will take some time but will make pendrive bootable.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mhismail

Hi, I am looking to format my hard disk which has XP, an old version of Mandriva and a 9.04 UBUNTU (which I understand is no longer supported). I have burnt an iso image of the 12.04 UBUNTU and would like to install that. However, I run into a problem where in spite of commanding it to boot from CD, the machine still boor from HD and boots into uBUNTU 9.04.
I thought if I wipe the HD clear of all the 'things' on the HD then booting from CD would be ok.
Is my thinking correct.
FYI my old machine is a Pentium4 Celeron, system memory DDR266/333/400.
Glad to have your advice.
Thanks.

Mods Note : Post moved to a new Thread.

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I have often been wrong but it sounds to me like you may have burned the CD improperly. The method I use isw to use K3B and select Other and from that menu I select Burn Image. If you just burnt the file to the CD it is still an iso image but when you burn an image to CD with the Burn an Image option it becomes a live CD in the case of all the regular Ubuntu downloads.

When you go with 12.04 you might try the Gnome option from the Software center or like myself, do Synaptic first and then gnome. it will give you the option to fall back to Classic Gnome or use Gnome 3, I like the Gnome 3.

I hope I've not stepped on my tongue.

"DON'T wipe your HDD...."

Thanks for your enlightenment on that matter.

I just have this queer feeling that the old OS's are still stucked somewhere on the HD and I think those are occupying some space needed for other apps which are gonna be needed. I concluded as such as I could not have any plug in for example to view you tube videos. A dialog box says I need to free some space before I can install any plug in!

Thanks OZ.

I will digest your response and take the necessary steps to burn the right way ( I hope...after understanding the feedback frm you!!). You must excuse me as I am not that much literate when it comes to terminologies in the IT world! God willing, I will post back - at least with a few basic procedural questions should I encounter any problem to beru the UBUNTU dvd again.

Thanks for your understanding.

Basic rule to burn any .iso image is, burn at lowest possible speed supported by your CD/DVD writer. All Image burning software have option to set burning speed.
If your machine supports booting up from USB ( Check Boot Option in BIOS ) then burn image to USB instead of wasting a CD/DVD. You can use UNetbootin to burn image to USB. Linux, Windows OS and Mac OS X versions of UNetbootin are available.

mhismail, you didn't state HOW much system memory you have installed. I've had the same issue with TWO of my pentium 4 machines and 1 gb of memory just isn't enough. On mine the DVD would sit and read for quit some time, then revert back to booting from the HD. Make sure you have at least 1.5 (2 is better) gb memory installed and try again. I think you'll find it will boot to the live DVD then. Once installed, 12.04 does not require the full amount of memory, just to boot up in live mode.

Hope this helps.

Webby

Quote:

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Originally Posted by webwalker

mhismail, you didn't state HOW much system memory you have installed. I've had the same issue with TWO of my pentium 4 machines and 1 gb of memory just isn't enough. On mine the DVD would sit and read for quit some time, then revert back to booting from the HD. Make sure you have at least 1.5 (2 is better) gb memory installed and try again. I think you'll find it will boot to the live DVD then. Once installed, 12.04 does not require the full amount of memory, just to boot up in live mode.

Hope this helps.

Webby

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One of my very old machine has just 512MB DDR1 RAM and most of main stream distros works fine in it. No installation problem at all. I have installed LinuxMint 13 (Mate edition) using LiveUSB in that machine last week only.