As long the machine has about 256 megs of ram should run fine. Not really fast,
but it will do. You can DL the ISO file and it will take a whole CDR. You can
use Nero to burn the ISO and I think there is a couple other CD rippers out
there. THe key is not to burn the ISO as data CD. You'll need to burn it as a
ISO image. All so burn the CD at least 10x. The faster you burn the cd, the more
problems the cd will have.
http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download
After the DL and burned the CD. Go into BIOS and set up the system to boot from
CD first. This will get the CD to run and boot up Ubie. If you want the whole
drive to formate with Ubie. It will do it be default and will whip out every
thing on the HD.

I had the same problem, i went to the Ubuntu site and downloaded the
ISO file and burned it to a CD. Used the CD to install. Went just fine. If you
can't do the dowload they will mail you a disk.

I regret that I can't give any advice on making the
bootable disk, but I
thought I would point out a couple of things. The
Ubuntu download is very
big, 600M-700M, so it will take a while to download.
If you aren't in a
particularly big hurry, Ubuntu will mail you a free CD
of the latest version
if you request it. Just go to their site, join up,
and follow the
directions. Though they say delivery will take 6-10
weeks or such, I
recently received mine in about 2.

You can download the cd iso file from www.ubuntu.com.

There is software to burn the cd mentioned at that website.
Then boot from the cd and install and choose the option to use the full
disk.

Do you need more details?