I messed up my Linux....

Sorry to keep bugging the Linux guys, but I just did something stupid.

First, after the install, I only have about 190 MB HD space left, which kind of pisses me off since windows only took up about 750MB. So, I might reinstall on my 30GB Maxtor, and try to dual-boot with the windows 98 on there. I do NOT want to lose the data on that HD, so I'm going to be very careful with it.

Anyway, I found that the RAM from my old computer worked in the newer one, and upgraded to 64MB. Had to use boot: linux mem=64M. Why, I don't know. Windows never had any problems like that, but oh well. Also, it didn't work until I reimaged the floppy disk I was using to boot. Who knows why, it seems I have to image floppies twice before they work, this isn't the first time.

I installed IceWM, and no Gnome or KDE. I regret not installing KDE now, for a few reasons, one of which is my problem. The minor reason is some programs (like most of the Office-style programs, like KWord) seem to be nonfunctional without KDE installed. It would be nice if I got an error message, but instead it just does nothing. Once again, I find myself missing windows's "Cannot find file" or "missing .DLL file" error messages.

Also, I have yet to figure out how to turn off Linux. My only option in IceWM is to Logout. I found a shutdown commmand in the console, but all it does is reboot my system. I miss Start>Turn Off Computer>Turn Off.

Anyway, on to the major problem. I remember the last time I installed Linux, Mandrake gave me this nice GUI login where I chose my username, entered my password, and chose which GUI I wanted to start. I would guess that came along with KDE or Gnome, because I haven't seen it yet, and I've been trying for hours to figure out how to get it to appear. When I would log in, it would start up X, and I would login through an X session, and it would start IceWM.

That is a problem for me in itself. I can't run the programs I want without KDE, and I have no login thing to check and see if KDE is even installed. I think I installed KDE during an update I did to add Drakconfig (why it even lets you do an install without Drakconfig, I'll never know), but I'm not 100% certain. But, the major problem is something I did. I was digging around in the configuration, and I saw an option to not start X with Linux. I figured that's what I wanted, Mandrake would bring me to that nice login screen. However, when I rebooted, it got to the console and stopped right there. Fine, I thought, I'll just start IceWM myself and undo the changes. I tried, but IceWM said that an X session had to be running. No problem, I thought. After a few minutes of guessing what the filename would be, I typed "X", and it started an X session, but with no windows. I had a cursor, and nothing else. I cannot do ANYTHING but move the cursor from that window. So, I rebooted, and tried an old DOS standby, X /?. This is obviously the help command, but it spits out so much that I cannot read it all on one screen. I tried another command that I had used before on Linux, |more. This did not work.

So, here's my complaints and problems with Linux:
1) It doesn't seem to tell you why a program isn't working if you don't have proper packages installed, it just ignores your command.
2) I see no obvious way to shut down my computer, it took me 5 minutes to figure out how to restart it.
3) Install program is stupid, they need to make it NOT crash for no apparent reason, like the Windows installer.
4) I need to be able to start IceWM again, so I can undo the changes I made to my Mandrake configuration. Apparently, I have to be able to start an X session with a console, then run IceWM from there. Anyone familiar enough with the commands to tell me what to do?

Any solutions to any of these problems will be appreciated.

I reccomended that you install KDE even if you don't plan on using as a Desktop, because of the programs, and the graphical login screen. The graphical login screen is called KDM.
The installer should not have crashed ever. If it did I'm not sure why. And in order to start X again the command is startx
The Mandrake Control Center should have the necisary options, but with as little hadrdrive space as you have left, you might want to budget your space.

On to your complaints:
1)typically it won't let you install a program without the proper packages. The dependancies are tricky at first, but they make Linux more efficient in the end.

2)there is a shutdown command from the terminal, and if you have the graphical login screen that has a shutdown option.

3)The installer shouldn't crash ever. It never crashed for me. However I have seen the windows installer crash numorous times, regardless of version. Perhaps it has something to do with that fact you had to use a special boot command.

4)command is startx

Oh and about the install size. Windows only installs windows and a few MS programs, Linux installs tend to install the OS, X and plenty of applications, which may or may not be a good thing to you. the minimal install for Mandrake takes up about 65megs(no graphics), and the full install takes up about 3gigs. Don't do a full install, you will have too much stuff you'll never use.

EDIT: I will never know why the installer lets you don some of things it does. It should force Drakconfig, but it doesn't. Oh and Mandrake's intall process is far from perfect, but a sucessful install is worth it. If you decide you like linux try it on your computer, just be careful not to resize any NTFS partitions, and backup your data first.

Yeah, it does take alot of space to install Linux. They just put so many apps in it. lol, I think my /user directory is like 84% full already.

If you have a bigger hard-drive, definitly install KDE, just don't use it. Most KDE apps can run in IceWM as long as their dependencies are there. Not all of them will show up on the menu though cause the menu layout has "kde" as a requirement when all it needs is "x11".

Menohk, if you know what I mean about the menus, point out the specifics to Atma if he needs it. I would, but I can't remember where the files you have to edit are.