Black screen afrer few seconds of login

Hello everyone,

I have a big problem, and hope someone can help me. My notebook hard drive died few days ago, its 5 years old toshiba notebook. I was so happy to know there is linux like KNOPIX which, bootable from cd, so I can still use my old notebook without spending 100$ or euros for new hdd.

But, when I boot with cd, and type root and toor for login, after a minut or so, everything stops, and there is no instalation, no booting any more. There is only black screen and no sound of cd, nothing. Sounds like some problem with hardware or so? I tried on my desktop, it was working very well, but on the notebook no. 256mb ram, 1066mhz intel, usb mouse, should i use usb keyboard?

What is a problem? Can anyone help me?

Thanks!!!