I am an experienced Pc user but new to linux----------------my problem is when I install and reboot for the first time it asks for a username and password------------------all I gave was a root password so why is it asking for this. I cannot get past this no matter how often I delete and reinstall.

Ummm... Did you try logging in as root? Or is it asking you to specify additional users? It's been quite a while since I have seen RH9. In the WinDoze world, if you install a new system and do not create any other users, you HAVE to login as administrator. Same is true here. Linux will not autologin as root (you can hack it to do this, but why would you?)

You should just log in as root the first time and create a user account for yourself. You should NEVER log in as root for regular use. If you need to do administrative stuff, then login as root and when you are done, logout and log back in as a regular user. Consider root = administrator in WinDoze. You can do a lot of damage real quick.