I have an old laptop running windows xp, I want to replace it with the latest version of ubuntu. The problem is that the laptop does not support boot from usb - I checked the BIOS but the option is not working, I tried http://www.pendrivelinux.com/testing-your-system-for-usb-boot-compatibility/ but with no luck.

I also tried burning the iso on a dvd but the burn process keeps failing.

What options do I have? Isn't it possible to install ubuntu somehow by downloading it and replacing it with the current OS?

asked Apr 7 '12 at 15:39

5

  • Trying burning the ISO from a different drive.

    Apr 7 '12 at 15:41

  • I only have a HD and nothing else, what other drive do you mean?

    Apr 7 '12 at 15:42

  • HE mean to burn it to on other computer like friends and family.

    Apr 7 '12 at 15:47

  • If you currently can not boot from any other media than your primary hard disk, then do not install another operating system. What do you plan on doing if the installation fails?

    Apr 7 '12 at 16:07

  • Just because the usb boot does not seem to be working doesn't mean it can not boot from a usb device. I had some older thin clients that would not boot up from a usb thumb unless I used an older version of ???? to format and create the boot sector. I have the info at work, but the process eludes me right now.

    Apr 7 '12 at 19:23

3 Answers 3

There is no way to boot from in any way without the USB or CD/DVD drive. You have to burn the disk from other computer and then try to install it through that. If you want to keep dual boot then its easy way as wubi suggested to you. But as I thought you want to keep only single OS at the time so there is no other chance for you to do this.
Burning disk on friends computer is the chance for you to install the OS on your system. Also check out that is your CD/DVD drive is not faulty.

answered Apr 7 '12 at 16:28

1

  • I am not looking for dual boot since I want get rid of xp, burning an image seams to be the way to go

    Apr 7 '12 at 19:46

Download latest ubuntu iso file Now extract or unrar using winrar

and run wubi.exe . Using this method you no need USB drive or DVD drive

enter image description here

(or) You can download Ubuntu installer for Windows from internet ,it will download the latest version of ubuntu .

And refer this page to enable USB boot option to your boot entry menu(for old BIOS )

answered Apr 7 '12 at 16:09

1

  • The OP said he did not want dual boot. However, once Bbuntu is installed via wubi, you can then use gparted to delete xp and reformat the partition to a usable format.

    May 14 '13 at 15:47

Download and create a bootable usb with an older version of ubuntu (or other linux release) with UNetbootin. But the older the better.

you can use syslinux and do it manually otherwise, how to syslinux

answered Apr 8 '12 at 4:49

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