Ubuntu Bootable Disk won't work

Hey Guys,
I recently was talking to a friend of mine about getting a copy of Ubuntu. He told me to look into a bootable CD(like the Knoppix CD he has), so I did a google search and came across this site:
http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/download
So I went and downloaded the WinRar file. I opened it and copied all the files except the USB-creator.exe file(didn't really think that I would need that since I was making a bootable CD). But when I put the CD in, it brings up a box that has three options.
The first is a demo and full installation where I can try Ubuntu free by just restarting my computer with the CD in the drive and it will have an option to install the full OS.
The second option is to inside windows where I can install and uninstall Ubuntu like any other program without the need for a dedicated partition and I can boot into either Windows or Ubuntu.
The final option is just a learn more option.
So I restarted my rig and it wouldn't load the CD, so I went into my BIOS and set my boot sequence up to boot from my CD drive first then my HD, but it loads straight into windows. (The drive is recognized because I've used it for games and such). When I click on the demo and full installation button it takes me to a screen where it says that a reboot is required and it gives me three options:
The first is to reboot now. The second is to manually reboot later. And the final option is help me boot from a CD.
Since I tried to reboot now the first time, I went and clicked on the "Help boot from a CD". Then it takes me to a screen that says I need to install a CD boot helper, so I click install and it goes through the installation but then it comes up with an error:
An error has occurred:
Invalid Argument
For more information, plz see the log file C:\docume~1\home\locals~1\temp\wubi-10.10-rev197.log
View attachment wubi-10.10-rev197.log
(I have no clue what this does)
Any help on why this doesn't work would be very much appreciated.
Thnaks,
Spock96

 

Greetings, Spock96.

Try another distro: Mint is good. The download file is an .iso, and you must burn this file to disk as an image using ImgBurn or similar burning software.

If the Mint works, then you know something's wrong with the Ubuntu disk.

 

I'll second Caliban that Linux Mint may be a better Linux to try out because it is a bit easier to use off of CD.

However, if you want to try the Ubuntu you have downloaded go to the link you posted in your first post and scroll down. It will show you in part 2 how to write the ISO to CD. And in part 3 it shows what the first few screens will look like when you successfully boot from the CD. When you successfully boot from CD you want to hit the Try Ubuntu button/icon to run off CD without installing.

****
Basically, you do not want to open the ISO file in winrar at all. You want to write the single ISO to CD as an image file in either imgburn or infra recorder.

 

I used the burner built into windows Vista, that came up in autoplay when i put the CD in

 

While Win7 will has native ISO support, Vista doesn't. Imgburn is the option I recommend.
http://majorgeeks.com/ImgBurn_d4870.html

 

Another option for burning a .ISO is this
Burn the disk at the slowest speed maybe 3x!
And don't extract as sach2 pointed out.
Cheers..

 

A quick update on this thread, I downloaded InfraRecorder and did all that. I still had a problem getting it to boot from the CD,so I clicked the "Help me boot from CD" button and it installed that CD boot helper. But it looks like it installed it along side windows. Because every time I restart it comes up and lets me chose between Windows and Ubuntu, but I need to have the CD in the drive on start up for it to load Ubuntu.
Anyway it works and I can use it. Thank you guys for all the input
Spock96

 

Sounds as if the bootloader was installed, but not the actual Ubuntu OS.

Are you wanting to run Ubuntu as a live environment (eg: no install, run from the CD/DVD), or are you planning to install the OS as a part of a dual- or multi-boot system?

 

I was planning on running it off my CD.

 

Depending on the system, running off the CD will be slower than an actual install. Using Wubi inside Windows would be better.

I second the use of Linux Mint.

 

Seems as if somehow it loaded grub to the MBR. You may want to fix your MBR so that the computer only boots into Windows. If you have the recovery CD, you can follow the directions after selecting repair to re-write your MBR. If you are not comfortable doing that, then I suggest asking for help. I have done it in the past after installing OpenSuse when it jacked up my MBR.

All the best,

Ian