I am a newbie to Linux. I burned Mandriva-Linux 2006 iso file to a disc (when I say newbie I mean it...I used Nero). My disc drive went into Auto-play and the Mandrake Linux menu interface pops up. All other links work except the "Install Mandriva Linux" and "Install Mandriva Linux using floppy." The latter doesn't concern me at all. Any advice?

I downloaded the file from Mandriva's official website. It reads CD1. I chose the Full 3 disc Edition option. *Discovered this is a trial version, I'll opt for the full free version first. Maybe I'll have more luck until I can find some answers.

My laptop specs:
XP Home Edition
1.7GHz Pentium-M
1GB RAM
64MB NVIDIA
80GB HDD
- I uninstalled XP Pro a while ago...no real reason. I can reinstall XP Pro if necessary.

autoplay, you mean when you put it in win you get a popup menu?
you need to reboot the computer with the dvd in and change the bios setting to boot your dvd first.

By auto-play I mean inserting the burned cd image into the drive...then Windows runs a pop menu...while I choose a selection. However, in this case, the Mandriva-Linux interface menu automatically ran also. I cancelled the "auto-play" pop up by Windows (because it was unnecessary).

I'll reboot and see what happens.

The way i installed it:

Inserted cd in to cdrom drive. Reboot computer, load Bios, chose boot from cdrom, save and exit.
Computer starts up and boots from cdrom.
Continue with installation...