Trying to reinstall

Hello, While trying yet again to get audio working I managed to clobber my TDE 14 setup. Want to reinstall from live CD (on USB stick). Tried the Ubuntu one; the installer didn't let me complete the partition setup. Tried the most recent Ubuntu nightly; can't even get to the GUI or installer program. I don't care much for what I've seen of PCLinuxOS. Maybe I can mess around with Debian/Exe again. But really, isn't there something I can use and recommend to others that just works???? (i.e., with functioning wifi and sound) -R