After who knows how many hours at least I have her recovery mode back

[urdrwho5]

Ok...I made some confusion because I forgot a part.

When the DVD boots to the screen that says -

Try without installing
Install
Check disk
Boot from first hard drive

At the bottom is Other Options and when you hit that it brings the menu up and the F6 choice is usually nomodeset.

The Neon ISO didn't have any Other Options choices. So there was no way that I saw to start in nomodeset.

F6? Never heard of that one. That a windows thing?

If you see a grub menu, hit the "e" key to temporarily (as in: not saved) edit the boot line. Look for "quiet splash" and put nomodset there. If there's no grub menu, hold down the SHIFT key when booting until you see the grub menu, then the e key to edit.

[oshunluvr]

Ah, I see. I don't remember seeing that when I first booted it. I have seen a "Tab to edit boot menu" in the past.