i fixed the problem i was having with installing linuxmandrake5.2.
i was geting 'can not open dir' error.
when in my random exploration of the net i found DO-IT-YOURSELF RED HAT
INSTALLATION it has howto to burn a CD with the software from a non-Unix OS,
or to install it from a FAT-32 partition.
i hope this helps anyone with any problems they are having.
zipht
