Problem Installing Ubuntu on Laptop

Hi, I have a Compaq Presario V2403NR Laptop its about 2 & a half years old, and I recently tried to do a Clean Install of XP but after i got to the part of the install where i had to erase my hard drive (including Windows) it went to the formatting part and stopped at 8% and my computer shut off and did so everytime i tried. So now i dont have an OS and now i wanted to install Linux, so i downloaded and burned the Ubuntu 8.04 install disc and it loaded up fine on my laptop, i choose Install, and it goes to the Ubuntu load screen and when its done loading it goes to a black screen and a message comes up at the top with something about a firmware error and i need to download something but it goes away too fast for me to read, when it goes away the screen just stays black and doesnt do anything after that, i waited about 20 mins and it was still black so i turned off the computer. Does anyone know what the problem is and how i can fix it? Thanks in advance.

 

Live or install?

From live, look at the screens at the bottom at boot and you can change settings. Biggest problem is video.