Newbie Help!

[marshalh]

Hi all,
I have a sony vaio laptop, which i recently installed a new HD on, running XP prof. and every thing was going ace. I have got Knoppix STD 1.0 which i was looking at bit by bit (i've never dabbled in linux before). two days ago windows crashed in a big way (no supprises), it takes 5mins to get to the login screen, upon loging in i have no start menu ( only desktop icons).
I am sick of windows, thus as i write im am downloading mandrake (as im told it easiest to install and to learn to use). I need help formatting my HD either from windows (with its limited usability) or from Knoppix STD, so i can then install mandrake and live happly ever after
Like i said i have very limited understanding of linux and whats on the knoppix std cd. so if some one could run me though step by step it would be very very helpful and appriaciated
Thanks guys

[Markus]

The mandrake installer is quite easy to use and does it's own partitioning and formatting. It's a few years since I used it, but if memory serves me you can choose automatic partitioning (including formatting) or choose expert mode so you can choose your own partition sizes and setup (also includes formatting).