installation problems

[Rowan Trau'e]

Hello all
     Many thanks for all the advice that various people gave me regarding what may be causing my install to not work.
I have tried some of the things that were suggested and the results are as follows.
I did Ctrl/Alt/F1and put in my password etc. When I tried what Chad suggested it replied with 'no such file'.
When I tried what Chris said it replied with 'command not found'. I also tried to do an MD5sum using Chad's link but had no luck - I had to copy the cd to my hd and it came out as three separate files.
Chris, the screen that I get is a pale greeny/teal and clicking the left mouse button does nothing.

With regards to which video card my machine has, I have been unable to get that information because it is built into the motherboard and I can find no info anywhere.
The cd's that I am using are copies that were purchased privately in ChCh. I am under the impression that they are copies of copies which may not be a good thing.
I live in Rolleston so maybe there is a list member who I could visit for first hand advice.

Rowan