# Solved: No bootable partition in table



## fitzhatrick

Hello, 
Windows will not load on my machine, so in an attempt to back up my hard drive before using my recovery disk, I was advised to insert a USB with Ubuntu on it. I've done so and moved USB to the top of the boot order in the BIOS Setup. When I boot up now, I just get a black screen that says "No bootable partition in table." What does this mean and how do I just get the Ubuntu to load?

Thanks very much.


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## skinnywhiteboy

What did you use to create the bootable USB disk?


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## fitzhatrick

I just went to www.ubuntu.com and downloaded it to my desktop and then copied it to my USB stick.


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## skinnywhiteboy

That won't work. You have to make the USB stick bootable. Did you just copy the entire .iso file to your USB stick, or did you extract the contents first?


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## fitzhatrick

Ok, so how do I make the USB stick bootable?

I can't remember the extension on the file, but yes, I just copied the downloaded file onto the USB stick. I don't really know what it means to extract the contents.

Thanks very much.


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## skinnywhiteboy

Download this file that I uploaded to my web server:
http://justdorks.com/makeboot.bat.rar
Unzip the file and copy it to the root of the USB stick.
Double click on the file and follow the prompts.
It will make your USB bootable.

And just for future reference, Ubuntu does have a built in utility that does all of this automatically for you.


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## fitzhatrick

Alright, thanks SWB. I'll try it later tonight.
Please bear with me though on a few points of clarity:

1) To unzip, can I simply right click on it and "unzip" will be one of the menu items?
2) How do I copy it to the "root" of the USB stick?
3) Regarding Ubuntu's built-in utility, I'm not sure what you mean. Built into what? If it does this automatically why isn't my USB stick bootable? 

Thanks again.


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## skinnywhiteboy

1) To unzip, in most case you open the compressed file, and can simply drag it out of there.

2) The "Root" is the highest level you see under the drive letter of the device.

3) The built in utility is called "Startup Disk Creator" and is included with the Ubuntu Operating System.


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## fitzhatrick

Hi SWB,
I downloaded the file from the link you sent. My computer didn't know what program to open it with, so I just tried going back to the Ubuntu site to find the Startup Disk Creator you mentioned, and found that instead, and now I can load Ubuntu.
Thanks for your help!


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## skinnywhiteboy

WinZIP or Winrar should open it just fine.


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