Assistance installing Ubuntu 10.04.1 LTS

[Donna Windom]

Hello.
I wiped a 40GB HDD and then partitioned it using Gdisk so that I could
install Ubuntu 10.04.1 LTS. My PC at home would not recognize the hdd.
I removed the hdd and placed it in a computer at work that has
multiple bays. Using the Ubuntu CD I downloaded, I was able to run
Ubuntu from the CD and navigate using the graphical user interface.
Then I loaded WindowsXP and installed the Ubuntu files to the 40GB
hdd. After restarting I have the option to run WindowsXP or Ubuntu. I
chose Ubuntu, but instead of getting the easy to navigate GUI, I get
the following after logging in:

username at ubuntu:~$

Is there a way to have a graphical user interface instead of the command line?

I removed the hdd with XP installed and tried to boot from the Ubuntu
hdd, but I get a non system disk error message. I'm not sure how to
troubleshoot this on my own because this is my first try at Linux and
I'm not experienced using command line.

Thank you for any help.