Bootable USB = download it from a reputable source or download it via torrent
"make" the bootable usb = Balena Etcher
Go into bios and disable secure boot and fast boot <<<<....yes, it matters
22.04 ubuntu is ok, either that ior Linux Mint 21.3 (rock stable)
Speaking of 'wiping' whatever the hell is on the drive?.....is the drive a HDD?....or hopefully a SSD ??
If you have the $ means and the motivation.....are you able/capable of putting an SSD in it ??
That will give you a perfect clean slate and a
serious uptick in speed.
If you stay with whatever is in it now......there is no need to wipe it clean. When you boot to your new OS and select to usee the entire drive to Install, that action will wipe the drive for you, perfectly.
(Costs of SSD have decreased greatly in recent months/years)
You probably have thoughts/questions re what the hell sort of drive is in it and how do I find out??.....the rotten windows on it wont cooperate for me to fins out.....what do I do.....
For the moment, concentrate on getting your bootable usb done......then boot to that usb stcik....that will give you a running,
LIVE version of whatever os you choose.
(Important:...A LIVE veersion means it is not fully installed.....itism actually running in the 4gb of ram......which then means that as soon as either you shut down or reboot.....the ""os"" will disappear off the laptop.
It will still be on your usb stick....
dont panic....you can boot it up again if you wish to.
Anyway....when you get it booted....click on menu...type in
disks then hit enter....click on the main drive.....and it will tell you on that page what the device is....mine looks like this:
View attachment 19758
more questions....just ask