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Attempting to install on a pc with windows xp but don't can't find an install screen or a program to open the installation process

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You cannot install Ubuntu (and any other Linux system I know) from already booted system. What you need is write the disk image (file with .iso extension) you installed to DVD or USB with pendrivelinux to create a bootable media.

I highly recommend getting somebody who knows computers to assist you.

Then you need to boot from that media (DVD or USB). Restart your computer and look at screen for info. You are looking for something like Press X key to enter boot(BIOS) setup. Hold that X key. It's usually F8, F12 or Esc in my case. There you look for change boot order or something similar. Navigate with keyboard to that option. Select the media, holding your Ubuntu installation.

You may try Ubuntu before installing it. Because your machine had WindowsXP, I guess it's quite old. If so, Ubuntu may be too much for it and you would see it before doing any changes to your main disk. Just check Try Ubuntu option.

If Ubuntu is too heavy for your machine, you may try Lubuntu - a derivative of Ubuntu which strips down on eye candy and some functionality to use much less computer resources. As a side bonus, it resembles WindowsXP.

Steffen offered a great link to extended and detailed explanation.

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julka is right, you have to put the Ubuntu (weak systems: better lubuntu or xubuntu) installation files onto a physical drive and boot your machine from it. But instead of changing the BIOS settings, usually there is another hotkey to open a boot device selection popup (my BIOS writes for example: "Press DEL to enter Setup, F6 for BBS Popup"). Search for something like this immediately after switching the pc on and press it. You should now be able to select your CD/DVD device. Besides, do you want to have a XP/Linux dual boot system or to replace Win? For dual boot, you need free unpartitioned space on your hard disk and you have to be VERY careful not to overwrite the old XP system or damage the partitioning tables.

Additionally, there is something called wubi which allows you to install Ubuntu in a directory of your Windows system, but this would make it depending on the win system and be slower and maybe unstable. I can't recommend that to you, I'm just showing you the options you might think of.

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