linux problems

[brian5258]

ok so i just installed mandrake linux 10.0 and for whatever reason even if i chose graphical install it kept going to text install, well that's no big deal, so then after the installation was done, it rebooted and everything, and it didn't load X. and here's what happnens when i type startx command at the prompt to go to GUI it gives

me the following error

execve failed for /etc/X11/X(errno2)

(a few seconds later)

xinit : No such file or directory(errno2) : unable to connect to X

Server
xinit : No such process(errno3) : Server error

[johnnyis42]

what is the hardware setup you're installing to?

[brian5258]

nevermind, the hard drive just had a head crash, just bought it off ebay last week. so i'm trying to install windows from a compaq restore cd on an old hard drive from an older computer (2.1gb) but this isn't working because i just got a "THIS ISNT A COMPAQ PC" message (which it isn't). i need an os...and i haven't had much luck with linux so far. anyone have a copy of win98?