Ok, I am a first timer for linux, and I thought I would choose Mandrake to try out and see if I liked it. Well I downloaded 3 .iso's off an ftp, which are titled: Mandrake82-cd1-inst.i586, *-cd2-*, and *-cd3-*. Well I have them on cd-r now and I really don't know where to go from here. I tried booting it and I changed my bios to boot from cd first and it just reads the disk then skips it, although, when I do the cd-r of winXP on the boot to cd first it works. I don't know what to do now? I don't know if I have to change the file name around on the cdr or if I have to partition or what. I need help. Thanks.

When you say you have them on CD-R do you mean the 3 .iso files?

Well if that is the case then your problem is easily solved. Those .iso are CD images, and you need to use your burning program to extract those images onto the CD.

For example if you are using Nero:

1) File > Burn Image
2) CHoose the .iso

Then if you check your CD-R you will notice that the CD-R will contain not one .iso file, but a number of files, and posibly directories too, and you will be able to boot from it.

Do the same to all 3 .iso files.

I'm such an idiot, sorry I had no idea. Thank you this is the solution.