Ubuntu – Wubi Windows installer downloads wrong Ubuntu image

You need to tell Wubi where the file is. Run wubi.exe as follows from the command line (e.g. if you placed the image in a folder called C:\UbuntuImage):

wubi.exe --dimagepath=C:\UbuntuImage\ubuntu-12.04-wubi-i386.tar.xz

Don't extract the contents before running.

PS I found it tripped over paths with spaces in them; if you find the same problem then move it to a folder as shown above.

Additional info

You can only install Ubuntu (32bit or 64bit) using the diskimage as shown above. If you want to install Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Edubuntu or Mythbuntu (or Xubuntu only on releases prior to 12.10) then you need to download the Desktop CD ISO and save it in the same folder as wubi.exe before running Wubi. Make sure that the ISO matches the release of wubi.exe and the flavour you are installing.

Note that Wubi will check the ISO MD5 sum to ensure integrity (if you run it when connected to the internet). It will still use the downloaded ISO if it's valid. However, if you disconnect from the internet it only checks the kernel and initrd md5sums so you should always check the ISO yourself.

I cannot tell you exactly what went wrong, because you didn't include anything from the log file the error message told you has more information.

However, the general problem is that the Wubi installer is unable to download an Ubuntu ISO image.

• One common cause of this problem is that the Wubi installer is unable to use bittorrent. This is how it downloads ISO images. No special software is required on your computer to facilitate this (wubi.exe contains everything necessary). But, this does not work well on some Internet connections. Yours could be one.
• If you want more detailed information about the cause of the problem, please edit your question to include the contents of that log file (c:\users\username\appdata\local\temp\wubi-12.10-rev273.log).

It sounds like you already tried burning an Ubuntu ISO to a DVD, so you probably already have an ISO image. If you do, and if it is an ISO image for Ubuntu 12.10, just put it and wubi.exe (the Wubi installer) in a folder that contains no other files, and run wubi.exe again.

If you don't have an appropriate ISO image, you can download one manually on the download page, and put it in an otherwise empty folder with wubi.exe.

If you're already running Wubi from the DVD you burned (or from a USB flash drive you created, or by mounting the ISO image), then this means the installation medium is corrupted. That is, either the ISO image contains wrong data, or the DVD/USB contains wrong data (which could happen from wrong data in the ISO, or due to other problems, most commonly due to something going wrong when it is burned/written).

So if that's the case, MD5 test the ISO image. If it's bad, download the ISO again (and test it again too). If it's good, make sure you're burning the DVD or writing the USB flash drive correctly. In particular, remember that the desktop ISO for Ubuntu 12.10 (but not earlier versions) requires a DVD, it is too big to fit on a CD.

Sometimes a DVD will come out better if you burn it at a slower speed.

Wubi might not meet your needs, though.

You said:

What can I do, because I want to get rid of my Windows 7 and use the way better Ubuntu 12.10?

If you install with Wubi, Ubuntu will be installed inside a rewritable disk image file stored inside your Windows system. So, while Windows will not be running while you use Ubuntu, you will not be able to remove Windows and keep Ubuntu. (Actually, you could, if you converted your Wubi installation to a regular installation. But you would have to be able to boot from external media to do this, so if you can do that, then you can just install a regular Ubuntu system in the first place.)

So you probably shouldn't use Wubi. How you should install Ubuntu depends on what went wrong in your first attempt (before you tried Wubi):

If you tried to burn it to a CD, that won't work starting with 12.10 (the version you're trying to install). Burn it to a DVD instead.

If your computer won't boot DVDs, or you don't have a DVD, or you'd prefer not to use a DVD, then you can write the ISO image to a USB stick instead.

As stated above, your ISO image, DVD, or USB flash drive could be corrupted. So test the ISO image, and make sure you're writing the DVD or USB correctly (see the two links just above this paragraph). Corruption can interfere with regular installations as well as Wubi installations, and can even prevent your DVD from booting entirely. As stated above, if you're trying to install from a DVD, burning the DVD slowly can reduce the likelihood of corruption.

If your DVD/USB boots but doesn't get very far, then you can usually test the DVD/USB itself. When you see a purple screen with person and keyboard icons at the bottom (this is very early in the boot process after you boot from the DVD/USB), press a key to bring up the text-based boot menu. Then select Check disc for defects. For more information on this, see the community documentation and this video.

If none of that works, you'll have to provide more information about exactly what you've done and what happened, including exactly what happened when you tried to boot, and any error messages that appeared at any point.