Mandrake install error

[jmcdonald21]

Help... I wanted to install Madrake on my dell system. I downloaded the iso cd files from a mirror. I burned the 3 cds. Now, I reformated my c: drive to a blank NTFS allo of about 9 gb. When I select to boot from the first of the 3 iso cds everthing seems to go ok until I get this error that says something to the effect of "second hand stage rammdisk error, this is a hard disk error or a kernal linux error." I don't know what any of this means, I just want to try MANDRAKEjavascript:emoticon('')
Evil or Very Mad!!!!!!! Help. My computer knowledg is bordering on slightly more than average, so please, use laymans terms AOAP. If you were wondering, I partitioned the Seagate recentlly with the smaller C: partition because I heard that the OS runs faster if it's closer to the center of the disk.

Here is my system info if it helps anyone help me!

Dell Dimension 8300
P4 2.6 w/HT FSB 800
1.5 gb dual channel DDR Ramm PC3200 (Dell brand)
seagate barricuda 160gb hard disk 8mb buffer (9gb partition, 140gb partition)
secondary drive 60gb hitache 2mb buffer
DVD/cd rom
previous OS window XP
ATI 128 Radeon 9800

I cut and pasted this from the system info thing:

OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 2 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Manufacturer Dell Computer Corporation
System Model Dimension 8300
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 9 GenuineIntel ~2593 Mhz
Processor x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 9 GenuineIntel ~2593 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date Dell Computer Corporation A07, 9/27/2004
SMBIOS Version 2.3
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume4
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-215"
Total Physical Memory 1,536.00 MB
Available Physical Memory 1.11 GB
Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB
Available Virtual Memory 1.96 GB
Page File Space 4.35 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys

Well, that's all I can think of. I hope that's enough info. Thanks to anyone who helps!!!

[daemonOS]

Did you check the disk? Run a check disk. How did you go about the install with partitions and things of that nature. Which disk did you install it to? What type of controller (SATA=software raid/PATA=EIDE/USB). Give as much info as you can.