32-bitbootxubuntu
When I'm trying to boot my PC from the Xubuntu minimal CD, it fails. It just goes straight to the other operating system, windows vista.
I don't have admin access is that occurring the problem? My computer is really old. It is the 32 bit.
How to solve this problem?
The most likely cause of ending up at a grub prompt, is that the Wubi virtual disk has been corrupted i.e. the file C:\ubuntu\disks\root.disk (it may also be on a 'drive' other than C:) This can occur from performing hard shutdowns on your computer or power failures.
You should first run chkdsk on the drive that contains your Wubi install. Then you will need to confirm that the root.disk is still present or recover it from the \FOUND.000 directory that chkdsk recovers to.
Refer to this for specific instructions: http://ubuntu-with-wubi.blogspot.com/2011/08/missing-rootdisk.html
To avoid problems like this, avoid hard shutdowns - even if your Ubuntu install is hanging, try Alt+SysRq R-E-I-S-U-B to reboot safely.
Install UNetbootin in the Live CD and select FreeDOS as the distribution, which will download a 1.44 MB boot image and create a DOS boot disk for you. UNetbootin is also available for Windows
If you're curious the image is named ubninit and can be mounted in linux:
livewire@ZS00:/media/VOYAGER$ mkdir test
livewire@ZS00:/media/VOYAGER$ sudo mount -o loop ubninit test
[sudo] password for livewire:
livewire@ZS00:/media/VOYAGER$ ll test/
insgesamt 125
drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 7168 Jan 1 1970 ./
drwx------ 17 livewire livewire 4096 Aug 26 15:19 ../
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 66945 Sep 3 2006 command.com*
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 1024 Sep 3 2006 driver/
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 1768 Sep 3 2006 fdconfig.sys*
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 1024 Sep 3 2006 freedos/
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 45341 Sep 3 2006 kernel.sys*
livewire@ZS00:/media/VOYAGER$ file ubninit
ubninit: DOS floppy 1440k, x86 hard disk boot sector
Best Answer
Enter your BIOS setup utility and change the boot sequence so that the CD is the first entry in the list of boot devices. The Ubuntu minimal CD being very small (<40MB) and text only should be able to boot successfully, even on older systems where the graphical Ubuntu live DVD/USB does not boot successfully. There is no need to use a different Xubuntu CD, because you can select and install the Xubuntu desktop from the Software selection menu inside the Ubuntu minimal CD installer.
You should be able to enter the BIOS setup utility without administrative rights, unless it is password protected by an unknown password, and even so you can remove the BIOS password by removing the CMOS battery from the motherboard for 5 minutes and then putting it back in. This will also reset all BIOS/UEFI settings back to their defaults.
CMOS battery