why won't my usb work?
 

just today i purchased a portable hard drive that plugs into the usb and starts up itself. on my windows it auto detects it and loads it up. linux.. wel, nothing happens. when i start up linux it says usb interface failed, i have a feeling that has something to do with it. if it doesn't how can i access my usb while in kde? my distro is mandrake 7.1

This is just a guess, but it may be because you're using such an old distro. I know that earlier kernels (such as the one you probably have, 2.2.x) do not have much USB support. Upgrading your kernel may be all you need to do, but that may be out of the question if you haven't done it before; it may also be necessary to install something called hotplug scripts. But probably the easiest thing to do is install a newer distribution :)

how do i install a new kernel?

i can't install a newer distro because my computer literaly sucks so this is all i have to work with.

The Kernel HOWTO is a good place to start. Good luck!