Thanks to all who made suggestions and/or offered advice on this problem. I am afraid that nothing seems to want to allow me to boot from this CD Rom (Knoppix). Not sure where I will go next, but I wanted to try this version of Linux that runs entirely from CD, before getting serious about Linux. I'm also a bit uncertain about whether I *must* have a partition in my primary HDD - it seems as though having a partition is no different to having a secondary HDD. Am I wrong in thinking this? Thanks again, Rick H To unsub or change your email settings: //www.freelists.org/webpage/pctechtalk To access our Archives: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PCTechTalk/messages/ //www.freelists.org/archives/pctechtalk/ For more info: //www.freelists.org/cgi-bin/list?list_id=pctechtalk