Two Problems: 1 format a DVD; 2 Copy a Ubuntu instance to the DVD  

mikeincousa said:

I want to create a fresh start in my old Ubuntu machine with 18.04.

The machine is very limited. It has been dormant for so long it does not seem to be working properly so I thought I could easily start from scratch using a DVD. Wrong again.

It downloaded well from the Ubuntu site.

Rusty with making DVD's I tried formatting one. I could not get one of three tries of blank CD's to format from the Windows "This PC" option.

I see that Ubuntu has defined a drive and then put an instance in my file tree. I cannot figure out how to copy that instance to the DVD given my inability to format even one.

Any thoughts as to how to accomplish my goal?

Thanks

Generally you can't format a DVD that isn't an RW DVD. Once a DVD -R or +R has been written to (burned), if it's been finalized...that's it. You can't write to it again.

To make an Ubuntu DVD, you generally download the ISO. Then right click the ISO and choose "burn".
How to burn a DVD on Windows | Ubuntu

You can ofc also make a Ubuntu USB stick, but that needs to be made bootable.
Create a bootable USB stick on Windows | Ubuntu


Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
Get Ubuntu | Download | Ubuntu

20.04 is the latest version, and LTS stands for Long Term Support.

I could not get one of three tries of blank CD's to format

You mention DVD's in title, and CD's in this sentence. Hopefully it was a mistype
2. CD-R, and DVD+-R discs are burn once and Read Only after that, you cannot format them. CD-RW, and DVD+-RW discs Can be formatted and used several times.
3. Standard DVD+-R and DVD+-RW discs have a capacity of 4.7GB, (4.3GB burnable area). Ubuntu is a little too large to burn to a CD-R which is around 700MB, you need a DVD
4. CD-R and DVD+-R discs do not need to be formatted to burn them.
5. Here are step by step instructions how to burn an Ubuntu ISO image file in Windows 10


You may find it easier to work with a USB Flash drive to burn the ISO image of Ubuntu with Rufus
Rufus Bootable USB to Install Ubuntu 18.04 LTS – Linux Hint

Once you have downloaded a Linux LiveDVD .iso file it can be used as the Source for creating the DVD, an exact copy of the original disc. Then boot to it and there's a USB Image Writer program used for creating the Bootable USB Drive, I use at least an 8GB. I used it just today to test an old Toshiba Satellite Notebook with WinXP on it, hardware worked fine except it has a Celeron M Dothan that apparently can't be upgraded Win10 [according to Intel's list]. The main thing with the USB Image Writer is in keeping that .iso file on another drive for the Source needed for the process.

Yes, this will work if it has never been written to before. Remember, -R discs are Burn once, then Read Only. You cannot format them or burn to them again. If the burn fails, throw it away and get a fresh, never used DVD-R disc and try it again.

By "live CD" do you mean something you can keep adding to? I found it much better to use an External USB drive, either HDD or SSD, for that type of storage. With MS-DOS 6.xx and Win3.11 the 250MB Zip drive was quite convenient but we've come a long way since then.

A tip: I find it good to use an 8GB or larger USB Thumb drive for the Bootable USB drive, can actually do updates of the Linux OS on it, also can install additional programs, I installed a game on it.