I had Linux & XP and now on boot screen is blk with all 0 on screen

no you dont need to buy a new drive. just go into your bios and make sure you set it to boot from CD before the hard disk.

boot off the ubuntu LiveCD and then go to System->Administration->partition editor delete all (if any) of the existing partitions (this will erase EVERYTHING on your hard disk) then create the partitions how you'd like. for example if you want to dual boot you will have a primary partition for windows XP/Vista, then a primary partition for ubuntu, and one partition for swap.

install windows first if you want to dual boot, then install ubuntu from the liveCD.

I cant even install the cd, I booted from the cd drive, it loads the Ubuntu...but it loads all scrambled, the the desktop comes on like normal, but nothing works, I can't click on anything, it is a dead desktop. I can't even get anything when I right click on the desktop. All I can do is power off the computer, then I get the error message all over again

When the error message is up, the back screen is black and looks like this:

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Grub Loading stagu1.5>0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
GrUB :oading, Opleqse wait>..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Error02200000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

this is the entire screen

Jim,

while booting from the Ubuntu-CD,
you can choose to do a memory-check using the program
   memtest386+

Start that program and let it run for a while,
if the lower part of the screen gives no Error-lines, then you know at least that no-memory-error is found; i see that all your ways of booting end up in this strange screen, so my first suggestion is to check that it is NOT a defective memory-part.

If you let the PC run that memory test for 1 hour, just press <Esc> to reboot from the CD-rom.

In the first CD-menu, choose to run a Recovery Shell; please tell us if that screen is "normally" readable.

Dude, You are not reading what I am saying....

I CANT DO ANYTHING on my PC, all I get is a black screen with error message, I can't type anything, all I can do is load the ubuntu cd and when it is up, I cant do a singe thing, no left or right click or type anything at all, it is like it is dead. Nothing happens, nothing works. I tried installing windows, it wont work, just get error message, that is half English, zeros on entire black screen, I think my hard drive is shot.

Ok

Its sounding pretty desperate. Are you any good at taking the side panel off your machine and messing around with the hardware?

Remember to unplug the machine and avoid breathing in the dust inside, for some reason it always makes me choke. Also remember the metal of the case acts as a good earthing thing.

If you can unplug the ram sticks and pull them out and check they're free of dust before putting them back in, perhaps try just one stick at first. Find the watch battery and unplug it for at least half a minute (to reset your bios), normally its a race to get the new battery in in under 30secs but in this case we want to wipe it. Now try to clean the remaining dust out without breathing the dust in (i use a vacuum cleaner but very carefully). Make sure you dont leave any dead rats in there and that all the leads are firmly plugged in to you hard-drive, dvd/cd drive and floppy if you still have one (mines broken). I leave the side off to test things like this. Plug screen and mouse and power etc all back in and see if you can boot into the bios?

Can you boot into the bios? It's usually F2 or delete but could be any of the F-keys ...

Please let me know
Regards and good luck from
Tom

If it doesn't work with one ram stick then unplug the machine and pull out the ram stick - try the next ram stick. Note the little white tabs at the ends of the slots are meant to hold the stick securely but when you push them back the ram stick pops out a little way. Take care not to touch the copper contacts against anything that might have a static charge, eg your fingers. The metal of the case might be safe enough because tis earthered.

Take care and let us know how it goes
Regards from
Tom

If it doesn't work with one ram stick then unplug the machine and pull out the ram stick - try the next ram stick. Note the little white tabs at the ends of the slots are meant to hold the stick securely but when you push them back the ram stick pops out a little way. Take care not to touch the copper contacts against anything that might have a static charge, eg your fingers. The metal of the case might be safe enough because its earthed.

Take care and let us know how it goes
Regards from
Tom

If you are still having trouble with this then please post it as a new question. Only the most recent questions tend to get looked at so posting/reposting a question just before america arrives online gives the best chance of getting a good few answers.

If the problem has been resolved then please follow the link to the forum thread and mark it as Solved.

Good luck and many regards from
Tom :)