Question about booting from CD

Guys, I am trying to install Ubuntu and am having a real hell of a time with it (I am getting so frustrated I want to just quit but somehow I haven't yet). I have a laptop running windows 7 and hard drive encryption with truecrypt.

I burned the latest Ubuntu to a CD and I want to boot from that CD to start the installation process. I've futzed around in BIOS at least 10 times just pleading with it to boot from CD and not the hard drive. And yet for whatever reason, when I boot, it ignores the CD ROM drive and goes straight into the truecrypt password screen. Then it boots windows. This has happened so many times it's driving me crazy.

I am ready to tear my hair out and give up. I can't figure out why it won't boot from CD. BIOS isn't giving me any other options besides what I've already done.

Any ideas would be much appreciated. Thanks!!

 

vei9,

Bring up a boot menu. In Dells it is F12. In my computer it is F8. You will have a F key for a boot menu.

 

Doesn't work... The only option I have on startup is Esc which takes me to the Bios. I set it up to boot from CD and it just refuses to.

 

I forgot to mention one thing -- I burned the ISO to a DVD, not a CD, so I am trying to boot a DVD in the cd rom drive... Maybe that is causing the problem??

I'm going to try this all over again (sigh.......) after getting an ISO for Ubuntu and burning it to CD instead.... I HOPE IT WORKS!!!

 

Yeah if its a CDROM/RW, then it won't read DVDs.

 

you can always get distros that will fit on a CD.

Xubuntu 12.04 and 12.10 fits on a CD, for example
the next major version due in late April won't though.

you could always use a USB stick if your motherboard is able to boot from them.