I quote from the booklet that came with my Mandrake 10.1:
"Open a terminal and type the following, as root:

mkbootdisk --device /dev/fd0 'uname -r'

I quote from the response on my terminal:

bash: mkbootdisk: command not found

I ask:

If we (as newbies) are constantly chastised to 'read, read, study, blah, blah', and nothing seems to go right (even the simplest quoted instructions), then...where do we go? Just give it up and go back to Windows, where everything somehow seems to work, without all the aggravation that seems to be the inheritance of Linux? Really, what is the point of it?

I did some searching around, and found this on a different forum. It may be of some interest. Here is the link.

http://mandrivausers.org/index.php?s...hl=superformat

From what I have read, you can make a boot floppy during installation. Note since 9.2 the kernel is too large to fit on a 1.22 Mb floppy.

I would suggest a better solution is to download on of the many bootable distros on CD; Knoppix, PCLinux or DSL. Any of these can be used to rescue a machine like a boot floppy. You have the added advantage of many programs on each CD.

BTW I understand your frustration. I would add linux is not for everyone. It takes about six months of plugging away to begin to understand how to do a lot of things. I left windbloze behind because I was fed up with viruses, key tracking programs, the total lack of security even in XP the high cost of software and the list goes on. It has taken a while, but it is worth the investment in time for me.