I am very new to all linux and don't know a whole lot, so please use basic terminology when responding. The problem that I am having though is that after the computer boots up and sucessfully loads the operating system desktop when I click on live install it goes through a couple of different things including a question about mounts points and partitions and then it goes into a copying files window and begins copying the files. After about a minute of this and getting maybe 25% of the files copied the entire system justs shuts off. I have tried a couple of times to ensure that it is not simply a fluke and it isn't. Every time it shuts down at the same point. Any helpful tips of information about this would be fantastic. This is a fairly new computer with a pentium 4 processor, an eighty GB hard drive, an 512mb memory if that helps of gives any clues. Thanks for your time!

Sounds like a hardware problem to me. You might try a different distro disk (you didn't specify whether this was a CDROM, a DVD, a live CD, or what, and you didn't specify the version of mandriva...2007?)

If using a different disk doesn't solve your problem I would be taking a look at (in order) the drive itself (make sure the jumpers are set correctly...this certainly could cause your exact symptoms...), the memory (get and run memcheck), the power supply (make sure all voltages are within tolerance and there is adequate current available), then the motherboard (voltage regulator problem).

On the other hand, if the box was in warranty and I established that the problem was not due to a bad CD/DVD/whatever it is you have, I'd give it back to compaq and say "fix it!".