You could always use knx-hdinstall instead.

Or else, run cfdisk /dev/hd(?) first.

You say
it had WindowsXP
so can we assume that XP is no longer on your system?

You want 3 partitions (ideally -- you can get away with 2, but a seperate /home is a very good idea):

/ 3 - 4 GB (Linux)
swap no more that 500Mb (Linux Swap)
/home (as big as you like) (Linux)

I make everything a "real" partition.

You can then fire up knoppix-install and -- with a bit of luck -- you won't have to use QTParted. [/quote]