You can't really just copy files over to the system and you really need to allow formatting the drive for Linux by some method. You will need either a floppy drive or the ability to boot some sort of medium.
 
Can you give some system specs. on this system?
 
1. The amount of memory on the system.
2. Make and model of video card.
3. Size of the hard drive.
 
Mandrake, at least the newer versions, need at least 256 mb of ram. I'm not sure about Knoppix. With Vector Linux, I think you can get by (with an older version) with 32 mb of ram.
 
The video card may be an issue, as it seems that it is not vesa compliant. There are distros that can do this.
 
Most distros require an install of at least 1-2 gigs of hard drive space. It is possible to reduce this, but you have very limited functional ability.
 
Puppy Linux may be a possibility, but it requires about 64 mb of ram. If you have enough hard drive space, you can use a swap file to fudge this. Some have installed it by placing the target system's hard drive in another system, do a hard drive installation, then put the drive back in the older system.
 
But giving us some more information will help tell us if this is possible at all.

the configuration is as follows:
i486
32mb ram
video card i have no idea
4.1 GB hdd
 
I was able to load win98se2 on the machine but it kept on getting courrupt.I am more interested in linux (any distro) as the system is stabel & is to be used primarily for data entry.
 
Is it possible for me to create some sort of .bat file so as to load the iso image from the hdd itself?
 
thanks

OK, I may have a possible solution. Look at this VectorLinux installation how-to. What you are looking for specifically is section 4.4.

thanks,
will try out vector linux link & get back to you.
 

Thanks a lot for the help. It took almost 36 hrs for me to install vector linux on the system, maybe because of low RAM. But it worked.
the system is up & running.
thanks a lot again.

vector not able to detect realtec lan card.
installing lo only
how to make vector linux detect & install the lancard?

Any idea what make/model of NIC/LAN card this is?
 
If you type in lspci in a console window, do you see a reference to the card at all?

when i type Lspci in the console i get following results:
00:0e Ethernet controller:Realtek Semiconductor co ltd RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev10)

Did you set up the network during the installation?
 
Are you using broadband?
 
If you did not setup networking, you need to get into NASM. It should be on your desktop. There is a tutorial here.
 
Make sure that you set up the card using DHCP. If you are asked about the card, or module, pick 8139too. If you have broadband and you ISP uses dynamic IP addressing, then ignore the questions about adding an IP address and such and just continue with the screen prompts.
 
I don't remember how Vector does this, but if the NIC does not come up right off, then try rebooting and see if the network comes up.

I am able to configure the lancard. on ifconfig it shows lo device.
ifup eth0 command not found.
what is the command for bringing up interface eth0?
 
 
ok will try with NASM & get back to you.
 

tried vasm & nasm but did not detect the lancard.
how to bring up the interface inet1 / eth0 or close the device using command line option from terminal window? ifdown & ifup commands are not recognised by vector

Try the suggestions noted on this thread and see if it works.

thanks will try out & get back.