Alright I am going to try the free version of Mandriva, and i'm at the FTP dictionary. Theres three different CDs, which should I download?

All three they all are install cd for the hd. Remember that there is a lot of software that comes with Mandriva.

What if I dont want a lot of that stuff? Could I get away with just installing the first cd?

Download the boot.iso and do a net install.

Yes, you can install from just the first CD if you don't want all the extras.

If you are just going to try it out, download the live cd. That will give you an idea of what it is all about, if it will autodetect your hardware, etc. Plus, you never know when you are going to need a live cd anyways!

I found some mirror for the mandriva2006 from frontal1.mandriva.com. But how can i trust it or how can i ensure that the mirror iso files doesnot have any problems. I see we can do somethin like 'checksum', what isit, bestguys?
Give me some advs, please!
Thankui fully.

Just out of curiosity if you don't want "a lot of that stuff" don't you want a different distro? Mandriva's middle name is "a lot of stuff". I'm sure there are rpm based distros without all the extra stuff.

If you do a network install using the boot iso, you can install just the packages you need (and their dependencies of course) without downloading all of the isos.

Very true, I was just curious, when I think of small footprint Mandriva doesn't come to mind. But yes there is a lot of unnecessary stuff that comes with Mandriva.

Once you've downloaded the ISO file you can check the md5 checksum of the file against what is listed in the .asc or .md5 files on the mirror. If you're really paranoid check that its the same as on other mirrors. If you want to be assured its an 'official' mirror go through the list on the Mandriva website: http://wwwnew.mandriva.com/en/downloads/mirrors/2006iso

Get them all, You just never, never know, If you never, never go.

And however many you get remember to goto http://easyurpmi.zarb.org after you've installed and setup the rest of the software repos

I agree with GlennsPref about trying them all. There is a practical reason also, that if you just download the 3 disks of the latest version, instal them as-is (without picking and choosing) and immediately go online for all the updates and fixes, you will have a working system able to do everything out-of-the box.

Nearly all the problems I see in these pages and on other sites appear to be caused by newbies trying to tailor an operating system they have never seen operating.

Try it first.

No - defragment Windoze first - always!