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I am (temporarily, I hope) using a Windows 8.1 notebook. As soon as I can replace my doorstop desktop, I want to get back to Ubuntu Linux. And, meanwhile, I would like to run from a live Linux DVD.

I downloaded a ubuntu-14.10-desktop-amd64.iso image. For a CD-RW, I would right-click on the ISO file and select "Burn to CD". With a blank DVD in the drive, there is nothing similar on the context menu. The closest I see is "Send to ..." => "DVD RW Drive (D:)" If I do that, it does indeed burn the DVD, but the content is one file -- a copy of the ISO. That will not boot.

Reading about UEFI, I see that it requires to read a FAT (16, 32) filesystem. Requesting to "format" the DVD offers only a list of UDF versions. The dialog has a check for "Create an MS-DOS (FAT) Startup Disk" but it is greyed-out.

The Ubuntu troubleshooting page says, "If you open the DVD and see only one *.iso file, you did it wrong." But I find only how-to's for creating a USB boot. Not useful.

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  • I normally use the burning app that came with my DVD writer, but there are many freeware apps available, such as InfraRecorder, which you can get as a Portable App, so you needn't install it.
    – AFH
    Commented Feb 5, 2015 at 1:58
  • Try poweriso
    – Renju Chandran chingath
    Commented Feb 5, 2015 at 4:39

2 Answers 2

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An .iso file like the one you downloaded is a full copy of the CD/DVD (also called an image of it), in this case containing all the files required to propertly boot and instal Ubuntu.

To burn it correctly, you need a software that takes this file and writes it's content verbatim into the disk, such as burncdcc, a tiny utility from terabyteunlimited.com that does precisely that.

That is also the reason why the "send to CD/DVD" option doesn't work: instead of opening the .iso file and writing it's contents as a full disk, it just sticks the file into the disk as if it were any other kind of file.

Regarding actually booting into an UEFI system, when booting from properly burned CD/DVD, this is entirely dependent on the operating system you downloaded. If it doesn't work, look up ubuntu's documentation regarding your system, or post another more information here or on Ask Ubuntu with more details.

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  • Well, I opened the ISO as "Mount as Virtual Drive" and tried to copy the content (not the iso) ot the DVD. The result was no better. The firmware does power up the DVD drive and might attempt to read it, however I'm looking at the usual Win splash screen. As far as I can tell, the DVD is totally ignored.
    – David A. Cobb
    Commented Feb 5, 2015 at 21:29
  • Yes, unfortunately not everything contained in the ISO are files, but many different things too (the bootloader, for instance, responsible for actually loading Ubuntu). If you're wary of using an external tool, you can try the ones included in windows: Windows Disc Image Burn (Win7) isoburn (Win8)
    – Guto Andreollo
    Commented Feb 6, 2015 at 2:33
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How to burn a DVD on Windows

instructions from the official Ubuntu website

To install Ubuntu on a computer that currently runs Windows, you need to download the installation file and burn it onto the DVD, which you can then use to install Ubuntu. Once you've downloaded the file, follow the instructions below to burn your DVD, depending on which version of Windows you are currently using.

Windows 7/8/10

  1. Right-click on an ISO image and choose Open with -> Windows Disc Image Burner.

    enter image description here

  2. Select a disk burner (drive) and choose Burn. If you check Verify disc after burning, it will confirm that the ISO image has been burned correctly.

    enter image description here

  3. Put the DVD in the tray, boot the computer, enter the UEFI setup utility as soon as you see the manufacturer's logo splash screen when the computer is booting, and set the DVD as the first boot device in the boot sequence menu. Save the UEFI settings, exit the UEFI setup utility, and continue on to boot from the DVD.

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