Trying to reformat my dad's old laptop and install Ubuntu

[Blue Protoman]

So my dad recently got a new laptop, because his old one is a piece of shit. It's a Sony Vaio from 2006 or so. He's already moved his stuff to the newer computer, and tasked me with reformatting his old one so he can give it to my mom. I tried to use UNetBootin to install Ubuntu from my flash drive; but the damned computer is so old that it can't boot from USB! So then I tried burning the ISO to a CD-RW and then booting from that; still no luck. I haven't had luck in booting from a CD on my laptop either, so perhaps there's a correlation. But anyway, what do I do?

 

[DustinVgmaster]

So my dad recently got a new laptop, because his old one is a piece of shit. It's a Sony Vaio from 2006 or so. He's already moved his stuff to the newer computer, and tasked me with reformatting his old one so he can give it to my mom. I tried to use UNetBootin to install Ubuntu from my flash drive; but the damned computer is so old that it can't boot from USB! So then I tried burning the ISO to a CD-RW and then booting from that; still no luck. I haven't had luck in booting from a CD on my laptop either, so perhaps there's a correlation. But anyway, what do I do?

(Pardon me if this is a stupid thing to say)


I think it would help if you said what OS the computer runs.

 

[Jourdy288]

2006 Vaio sounds like XP/Vista.

 

[DustinVgmaster]

Try doing what this website says, if you havent already.


http://pcsupport.about.com/od/tipstricks/ht/bootcddvd.htm

 

[vadsamoht]

Have you checked the BIOS settings so that it boots from CD first? For Sony laptops I think the sequence is F3 on boot, followed by F1 or F2.


EDIT: h34r: . But it sounds like a poorly configured BIOS to me.

 

[Blue Protoman]

Dustin: XP, yes, right. Forgot.


Vad: I did set Optical Drive to boot first, but no luck. In the past, when trying to use a bootable CD on my own laptop (with a USB CD/DVD drive), I've had no luck. Perhaps it has something to do with the way I burn the discs? I have burned disc images successfully before (for Sega Saturn and Dreamcast, at least).

 

[vadsamoht]

I doubt it's a problem with your burnt image. If you really want to check, you can do put your cd into an already running computer to check it works (ubuntu works inside other OSs such as Windows as well).


I still think it's a problem with the laptop just not letting you boot from CD though. I'll have a surf around and see what I can find.

 

[XxionxX]

Try booting the iso from a USB? That is my preferred method, it's reusable and easy to carry (You can even make it persistent and bring it with you).

 

[vadsamoht]

^ but as he said, the laptop does not have USB-boot functionality.


According to here, the CD boot option is hidden away somewhere in the BIOS where it is not obvious.


Alternatively, from here:

Last night I can't boot from CD too, I am using SZ though, but I'll tell you what I've done to make it works.

1. Re-create and burn the boot DVD.


2. Put the CD in the DVD tray.


3. Press F2 during the Sony Vaio logo, reset to default values, save and exit.


It should automatically boot from the DVD the next time you restart.

 

[vadsamoht]

Also, from here:

Like the others said, you have to burn a *bootable* disk.I've burnt .isos before that weren't bootable. Depending on the burning application, there is often an option like "make bootable CD" to click before doing the burn.
Why are you using DVDs btw? Ubuntu fits on a CD.

What program are you using to burn the discs? People seem to like Astroburn, if you are running Windows.

 

[Blue Protoman]

I've used both Infrarecorder and ImgBurn. No luck either way.

 

[vadsamoht]

I've used both Infrarecorder and ImgBurn. No luck either way.

In that case it's almost certainly a BIOS/boot issue. You can press F8 during the Windows boot to select boot options (I have no idea when, or what those options are), see if that helps.


I need to get some sleep - it's gone 5AM and I've gotta be at university by 10. Just keep battering awawy through trial-and-error, that's how most of my OS changes have been done.

 

[Gerix]

Have you tried to install different distributions? Maybe the iso you downloaded is corrupted or something. Is it not recognizing the cd at all, or failing after recognizing it?

 

[Blue Protoman]

Have you tried to install different distributions? Maybe the iso you downloaded is corrupted or something. Is it not recognizing the cd at all, or failing after recognizing it?

Does not recognize.

 

[Gerix]

Can you get it to recognize any other cds, such as system restore discs maybe?

 

[emcee]

It should just be a process of elimination.


If the drive reads other disks within Windows, then the drive itself must be okay. If the computer won't boot any other bootable CDs, than it's probably not the disk. In that case, if you know the drive works, its probably a bios issue. Make sure it's set as the first boot device, and try resetting to the optimized defaults.


If it does boot other CDs, than its the disk. You can try re-burning it, using a different brand of CD, and re-downloading the iso. When you burn it, make sure you check the box to verify after burning.


If the drive doesn't work within Windows, and the drive doesn't even show up in Explorer, then you could try popping it out and reseating it. And also check the bios and see if it's detected there. If it show up but when it tries to read disks but just freezes up explorer and/or gives errors, than you can try using a lens cleaning disk.

 

[Prometheus]

Another suggestion relating to re-burning the disc: Try re-burning at a slower speed. This can sometimes make a difference.

 

[cinaed666]

I don't like to use cd-rw disks for OSes, have had a lot of trouble with those in the past.


If all else fails, you could order a free disk from ubuntu

 

[I8NY]

1:use cd-r or dvd-r (those are the most compatible)


2:burn at a slow speed (4x) and make sure it closes the disk session


3:make sure the cd drive works


4:make sure the BIOS boots from the cd drive


5:find the key to press on boot up to access the boot menu while the BIOS is loading (it may not have one but should)


6:if all else fails unplug the hdd and formate it on another pc

 

[DavidBowman]

I find computers are much more cooperative when you threaten them with a good old fashioned speaker magnet.