Hardy Heron 64 bit install

I am curious if anyone out there has had trouble trying to install the new Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron on-line. I have tried a download to a DVD install and got a message stating " no root partition installed". At that point the screen froze-could not go forward or backwards. Then I tried an on-line upgrade to 8.04 from 7.10 and wound up with the screen sticking at a terminal command prompt.I am wondering if this condition is more of a hardware issue than a software issue.Any information will be greatly appreciated.