"In the meantime, I installed a Linux magazine (i.e. download version) of 
Mandrake 9.1, and achieved a full screen viewing area on the laptop. On 
the third or forth boot, however, Mandrake turned to $h**, and the GUI 
started to dissolve, for lack of a technical term. Have heard that the 
magazine version had bugs, so will give it another shot with a borrowed 
boxed set of discs. Perhaps this is what I get for borrowing discs from 
my neighbor's Brit. Linux Magazine"...

Great!!! That sums up my problems, so I have been trying other distros.  Mandrake 8.2 was stable on 
it,  9.1 supported more so I bought the magazine and installed it.  About 5 boots later, 
*&(^%^()*()^.  Red Hat is what I have on there now, trying Suse this week (RH been on there a long 
time),  May try my downloaded Mandrake again.  Can you give links to your magazine bug reference 
version?
Thanks

I guess that the next Brit cd I get would be M-O-O-T os,  www.m-o-o-t.org.  teachs me to trust the 
downloads more.