Ubuntu Installation :: Dell Laptop Won't Install W 10.04

I downloaded Ubuntu 10.04 desktop and burned the CD. I changed the boot order on my Dell Inspiron 8100 to search for CD first. On startup, I see it flash - ISO LINUX something ............ The light flashes on my CD drive for a minute or so. I see a little icon at bottom of screen with a stick figure of a man and something else for a few seconds, then I see a white cloud flash on the screen that reduces in size and disappears, after another minute or so of the drive light flashing everything stops and still a black screen. Then, I tried hitting escape key a couple of times and I heard a few seconds of jungle music. The drive light flashes again for a while but nothing else happens. It seems like it's almost there, but not making it all the way for some reason.

By the way, if it matters, my Dell hard drive is partitioned to C: and D: I thought it would run a little faster that way, but not really noticable. I have most everything on C: right now. I hope to install side by side as I have a couple of applications I need Windows for, but would like to use Ubuntu for everything else. More questions about that later, on getting it to boot from the CD?

Since posting the above earlier under Dell, I have been able to boot from a borrowed 9.04 disk okay. And, was able to boot another computer with the 10.04 disk that I burned. The disk is apparently good, so why doesn't 10.04 work and 9.04 does?