When I type the command startx, the computer hangs for a second, and then it says

giving up.

xinit: Connection refused (errno 111): unable to connect to X server

xinit: No such process (errno 3) : Server error.

I have tried reinstalling RedHat 7.0 three times. I am lost

look in the log file for more info

/var/log/XFree86*

How are you logging in? I've seen where you cant startx in some older versions if you are root.Try as a regular user,if you have'nt already.
lynch

I have tried to log in both as root and as regular user.
I actually need to read up on the commands some more before I waste your time with unintelligent questions. Can you suggest some good web links for linux commands? I am using RedHat 7.0.

The man pages are a good place to start, I would start with the files in the /bin folder as they are the most commonly used. Then you could move on into the /sbin, /usr/bin, /usr/sbin, /usr/local/bin, and /usr/local/sbin folders.

access the man pages like this...

man ls

-------------------------------------------------------------------
LS(1) LS(1)

NAME
ls, dir, vdir - list directory contents

SYNOPSIS
ls [options] [file...]
dir [file...]
vdir [file...]

POSIX options: [-CFRacdilqrtu1] [--]

GNU options (shortest form): [-1abcdfghiklmnopqrstuvwx-
ABCDFGHLNQRSUX] [-w cols] [-T cols] [-I pattern]
[--full-time] [--show-control-chars] [--block-size=size]
[--format={long,verbose,commas,across,vertical,single-col-
umn}] [--sort={none,time,size,extension}]
[--time={atime,access,use,ctime,status}]
[--color[={none,auto,always}]] [--help] [--version] [--]

DESCRIPTION

many more details are shown here.

------------------------------------------------------------------

There are probably around 3000 to 4000 commands on your system.

One thing you can do is hit tab twice and see all commands. If you type something first and then hit tab twice you will see all commands that start with what you typed

like this

z [tab] [tab]

# z
zcat zegrep zgrep zipgrep zipsplit zmore
zcmp zfgrep zip zipinfo ziptool znew
zdiff zforce zipcloak zipnote zless zoo



If your going to be doing a lot of reading up on Linux I recommend getting one of the good Linux books at your local bookstore.

I don't mean to waste your time, but I was wondering what a good book for a beginner would be? Can you suggest something?

The Linux+ Certification Bible is actually a very good first book for a person new to Linux.I read it to prepare for the exam itself but was wishing I'd had a book like it when I started to take Linux seriously.
HTH
lynch