Question #77323 on Ubuntu changed: https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/77323
Tom proposed the following answer: Hi again :) A bit more detail this time. If you're reading this in the library or at some public machine then just skim it - my first post should get you access at home. Most distros, not just Ubuntu, have a LiveCd session as the default when booting up from their installer Cd although not many have such a fancy menu screen, mostly it's just a splash-screen and a blinking cursor. Also most distros quickly pick-up your internet connection but it usually takes about 3 button clicks. With Ubuntu's LiveCd session it should pick-up your internet connection straight-away without any fuss so just click on the firefox icon on the top taskbar and you should be able to surf into this thread :) Note that while it looks like a normal desktop all the "Documents", "Music" and such-like folders are all built from the Cd so anything saved into them will be forgotten when you reboot or take the cd out. The LiveCd session is handy for some quick surfing and checking emails, or for showing off Ubuntu to other people on their own machine, or for checking that Ubuntu will work on a machine (worth doing with any distro before installing it). Ok, anyway - from the LiveCd session go up to the top taskbar and click on Applications - Accessories - Terminal and into the terminal/command window/console type sudo fdisk -l and copy&paste the answer into this thread so we can see what is really going on with your drive at the moment and see if there's anything already there we can work with or whether we really will need to start from scratch. Either way is good. Note that if you're unsure of advice given about the command-line you can check by typing the command on its own with a " -h" or " --help" after it to get a quick cheat-sheet about how to use the command. Try sudo -h fdisk -h Note that while fdisk does have some very damaging potential i am carefully avoiding harm and just using it to scout out what's going on ;) Usually a good first step. The Master Boot Record on your hard-drive has been told to look for "NtLdr". NT is the basic Windows OS used at the heart of Win2k, Xp and some others. Ldr refers to "LoaDeR". So, "ntldr" is short for "windows boot-loader". The linux one's are called grub and Lilo - and are very much more sophisticated than ntldr. Grub is the most recent but both are far better at dual-booting between Windows & Ubuntu than ntldr, we'll help you with all that a little later. Good luck and regards from Tom :) -- You received this question notification because you are a member of UF Unanswered Posts Team, which is an answer contact for Ubuntu. _______________________________________________ Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~ubuntuforums-unanswered Post to : [email protected] Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~ubuntuforums-unanswered More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
