So I put the Xubuntu bootdisk in and ran the utility on it to test the hard drive. It said everythign came up fine, yet still when I try to install it about 20% of the way through I get the following error message:
The installer encountered an error copying files to the hard disk:
[Error No 30] Read-only file system: '/target/bin'
This is often due to a faulty hard disk. It may help to check whether the hard disk is old and in need of replacement, or to move the system to a cooler environment.
The computer does get hot while it's running, but I didn't think it got hot enough to do stuff like that. Also, I have a Pentium III processor.
I tried puppy, works great, but I'm having a similar problem I think. I was able to put the OS on the hard drive, however when I tried to boot without the CD it didn't work. I ran some tool called Grub something so that I could boot it without the CD but it just says that there is no operating system installed. Anyways, Mandrake finished downloading so I'm going to try that after I go out tonight. I'll update you when I get a chance.