Howdy.
Well, my dads friend gave me a copy of Mandrake 7.1, but when I try to install it, it seems to freeze on the Hard Drive Detection (The 3rd step of the installation). It stops responding to my mouse and keyboard, and it doesn't seem to be doing anything.
I'm sorry if this was answered on another board, but please help me.

Welcome to Linux Questions.

Can you switch to any of the other consoles? Try pressing CTRL+ALT+F2 If this works, then it has not completely frozen.

Also, could you give some details of what hardware we are talking about? What kind of machine is this? Mandy 7.1 is kinda old - it might have problems installing on newish hardware.

My machine's not too new, 700mhz AMD Duron, 256mb of SDRAM, 20gb Fireball HD or something like that (Offbrand).
This is the first time I've ever messed with Linux, so I know nothing. Do I need to format it to FAT or NTFS or what, and would it be better to use a PS/2 keyboard instead of a USB one? At the HD Detection, it completely freezes, and the NumLock lights tun off. Sorry for not being specific earlier, and I still don't know if I'm being very specific. Sorry. =(

Have you checked to see if your hard drive is compatible with Mandrake's Hardware Database? How is your hard drive partitioned? Dual or single boot? Have you searched this site or checked out this thread?
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...rive+detection

Are you planning on using this machine solely for Linux? If so, then you need not worry about formatting it as FAT or NTFS, both of which are Windows (mainly) filesystems.

To avoid potential problems, I would use a PS/2 keyboard for the install at least. Also, make sure you are doing the install in 'expert' mode - you don't need to be an expert, and you start the learning curve from the beginning. You will have more of an idea of what is going in to your system, so you will have more of an idea of what you can do straight away, and what you can't.

Another question: does the BIOS of the computer recognise the full 20Gb drive? This shouldn't be a problem for Linux if it doesn't find all 20Gb, but just make sure first.

expert_mode_works.thanks_for_help.using_character_map_right_now_so_msg_sucks.ty_again.=)