I have seen some godawful messes before....but this one takes the cake.
That "someone" would have been Ubuntu. you do not have a resident hacker or similar....get your head out of the windows mode.
Do yourself a favour.
Download
Ubuntu or
Linux Mint from the Official websites
Add/Burn it to a usb stick...minimum size 8GB....use
Rufus to do this...
.I am assuming you are using a windows pc to prepare the usb stick with ubuntu or linux on it
Boot the pc/laptop to that usb stick.
Take note if you have internet connection and sound in the 'Live version' of either ubuntu or linux mint (I would suggest you use lunux mint.....possibly just a bit more straightforward)
Then.....double click on Install linux Mint
follow the prompts
Be SURE to click Yes to downloading/installing multi media codecs etc etc
Install so that Linux Mint (or ubuntu) takes up the
entire disc.
The installer will take care of installing boot etc etc....all you need to do is sit back and watch.
When it has finished......reboot. it will ask you to take the usb stick out. Do that.
let me know how that goes.