I'm in a band, and we have a computer we use to record in the practice space that's located in a converted garage. This same computer is what we use to do work on MySpace, trying to add friends, etc. Well, some people on myspace have pretty much the WORST spyware and malware in existence that can pretty much hose a system. I convinced the other members that we need to put linux on a separate drive (a small 20gb drive) and use THAT to surf the web on instead of Windows.

I'm having some real problems with Kubuntu on that machine--internet connectivity works great until I restart the computer, then it has no connection. I have a more detailed description of that in another thread.

Nevertheless, I just need a simple distribution of linux that handles nvidia pci (not pci express, but PLAIN pci) video cards, has firefox and flash (or has adept or apt-get so I can get them easily), uses KDE as the desktop, and doesn't make me go through manual configuration of the grub bootloader--something that does it automatically like Kubuntu does.

Any suggestions?

You are looking for Sidux. Comes in a live cd with a kde lite version and does what you ask. Simple fast excellent hardware support. installs in less than 6 minutes on my computer.

http://www.sidux.com/

Thanks. I have just downloaded it and am burning it as I type this.

This distribution stops loading before it can get to the x-server. Do you have any other suggestions?

you should try pclinuxos.
the minime version is the latest but has almost no preinstalled apps.
the great thing is, you can customize it completly. everything is up to you on what you want to install.
if you run into problems be sure to check out the site and it's forums or the irc channer on freenode #pclinuxos-support
if you get the 2007 edition you will have to update quite a bit (~ 700 mb)
~ice

Don't give up on Sidux quite yet. Hardware detection is hard to beat. Try specifying a frame buffer mode or vga in the boot options.

Sidux is an excellent, bleeding edge distro based on Debian Sid. I just upgraded to Nyx and it is great, especially the newly revamped smxi script! Be patient with it especially when setting up a wireless network as it can be frustrating. http://manual.sidux.com/en/hw-dev-hw-dri-en.htm