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I wonder if someone can help me? I am fairly new to trying to actually understand and use computers myself rather than just buying whatever Windows/Mac wants me to! You will get a giggle from my flawed attempts anyway :-)

I would like to start using Ubuntu on my PC, just got a new harddrive and did have a borrowed windows 7 disk as was planning to temporarily install it so i could get ubuntu. However I didn't have high enough spec hardware for win 7 (I think it is due to only 1gb ram, i do have 64 bit technology and a 1tb harddrive). I am quite happy to install 32 bit ubuntu and hear it is easier the use than 64 anyway.

So I have one other rubbish mini laptop (windows xp) which i am trying to use to get ubuntu onto a usb (laptop has no cd drive) so i can install it on the pc. First tried just downloading ubuntu 13.04 desktop onto a usb and trying to boot the pc from it which gave the message 'no operating system'. Then I tried this to create a bootable usb which sounded promising: http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/ . However then it starting asking for my saucy desktop iso in order to install it onto the usb stick, can't really manage to find out what a saucy desktopp iso is, maybe a mirror image of an operating system, no idea why i would need that.

So in short, I'm lost. All I can think of is getting windows xp somewhere so i can get my pc to work and install ubuntu from the internet on that, or going to a friends house in the hope that creating a bootable cd is easier than creating a usb.

Sorry for my general ineptness and hope someone can help!

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4 Answers 4

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If you downloaded the correct file for installing Ubuntu, then the .iso is the same as the file itself that you downloaded, and you didn't need to extract anything from the archive. In order to make an Ubuntu bootable live USB you need to use the .iso file itself instead of a file or files from the contents of the archive that you extracted.


The instructions for preparing an Ubuntu live USB on Windows are found at the official Ubuntu How to create a bootable USB stick... webpage (see the step-by-step instructions below).

  1. Open Rufus and select your USB stick in the Device dropdown menu.

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  2. Click the CD-ROM icon next to the FreeDOS dropdown menu, then find your downloaded Ubuntu ISO and click Open and then Start.

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  3. Click Yes when it asks to download Syslinux software.

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  4. Click OK to write in ISO Image mode.

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  5. Confirm that your USB stick is selected and then click OK to continue. It is very important to verify that the device that you are installing the Ubuntu live USB to is indeed your flash drive, so that you don't overwrite any of your system or personal files which may make your operating system unbootable.

    enter image description here

  6. When it is finished, just restart your computer and start using Ubuntu, or you can install Ubuntu.

    enter image description here

In order to enable your computer to boot from the USB flash drive, you must enter your BIOS setup utility by pressing one of these keys: Delete, F2 or F10 as soon as the motherboard splash screen appears when the computer is booting. In the BIOS menu, you need to change the boot order so that the USB flash drive, which is usually called USB-HDD in newer computers, is the first entry in the boot sequence, and then save your new settings and exit the setup utility.

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  • Ok thanks karel, will try that later today and let you know how it goes, sounds right :-)
    – Emma
    Sep 26, 2013 at 12:47
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    Good luck and I hope you finish it soon in case your question gets deleted because a question about a development release like Ubuntu 13.10 will be off topic until Ubuntu 13.10 is released sometime in October.
    – karel
    Sep 26, 2013 at 12:52
  • Thanks for that comment too! I am just trying to install some kind of operating system other than wiondows, is 13.10 not the right thing for me to be installing? Right am going to try now!
    – Emma
    Sep 26, 2013 at 15:08
  • Ok.... sp @karel thanks for pointing that out. I was selecting ubuntu 13.10 on the usb creating thing which for some reason meant that i couldnt see the original .iso file among my documents, why i don't know but when i correctly selected 13.4 it did show up. Coupled with the fact i extracted all the files which i shouldn't have done. So that's it solved, thanks patient people :-)
    – Emma
    Sep 26, 2013 at 15:38
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I see you already found the relevant guide. Unfortunately it doesn't mention, that you still need to download an image file with Ubuntu. Choose wichever you like, though I recommend v13.04 (64 bit) for a recent system.

Select that image file as described in step 2 of the guide.

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Step 1: Download the Ubuntu CD image file (a .ISO file) from the official Ubuntu Download site. I strongly recommend to use the 12.04 LTS version, it's by far more stable. Since you only have 1 GB RAM, you might want the 32bit version (see the relevant question).

Step 2: Run the pendrivelinux USB creator and select the Ubuntu version you downloaded (if you followed my advice it's Ubuntu 12.04 Desktop) from the drop down menu. Then click the browse button and select the file downloaded in step 1. Then select your USB drive in the dropdown menu und click create. Screenshots can be found on the official guide.

Step 3: Reboot from the USB drive.

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To search, open filemanager, go to your pen drive, press "ctrl+f" and type ".iso". If you still can't find the file by this way then I think you have erased the USB drive.

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  • Ok thanks Pavak Paul, i will try that when i get home
    – Emma
    Sep 26, 2013 at 12:48

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