[plug] blowing away WindowsME

[Sol]

Hi guys,

I've been trying to help my brother to install RH7.1 on his IBM ThinkPad 
i1200. He wants to move over to Linux because:
1. Windoze runs his battery down in less than 90min;
2.  It's unstable;
3. Windoze ME behaves more like a virus than an operating system (as 
I've discovered trying to blow it away from the HD).

I've tried installing 3 different types of Linux, and have tried using 
the pcmcia.img on a floppy boot disk as well as boot.img on a boot 
floppy and we're still getting the same error message: Boot failed.
We can't even seem to get a foothold on the mbr/HD. Has anyone else had 
this problem? I think that the rest of the boot process would be a cinch 
if I could only get started. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Sol