You want to install from USB.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/FromUSBStick
IT’s easy if your laptop will boot from USB through BIOS. And it’s faster than using a DVD due to better transfer speeds.
It’s not impossible if the laptop won’t boot from USB from BIOS, but somewhat difficult.
Depends on the manufacturer and motherboard, most modern PCs and laptops without an optical drive will boot from USB.
try the link above, freepmail me if you run into issues.
I kept running into a problem when I tried to run any distro based on Ubuntu 11.04 . That link points out a specific problem with the SanDisk flash drive I was using and how to fix it. I couldn't get 11.04 LXDE to start before but now I'll give it another try.
I didn't have any problem getting #! to boot off the flash drive. What I couldn't figure out was more related to how I would install the distro on the netbook's hard drive in a more permanent fashion.
I was thinking I had to boot up with a disk utility to partition the drive for the linux install so as to not lose any Windows system files/user data.
But after some research it looks like I can adjust the partitioning from within Windows without data loss. I just need to figure out what format to use for the new partition and I should be set.