bad move

i recently found an old disc for mandriva linux. here's a quick lesson for all, NEVER mess around with an install disc for a new operating system at 5am when you're really tired. i wound up formating my hard drive, losing around 35GIGABYTES worth of data that i had accumulated over the years and now have a computer i don't know how to work. i have found many of the programs i used with windows will work under linux but how to make them work no-one seems to be able to tell me. all the websites i've looked at just say enter a command in the command line, well i do that and i just comes up with "invalid command" everytime i press enter. i'm ready to kill my pc. it would be nice if linux would make a manual for windows users that have switched aliances(i.e. operating systems) to tell us how to work this damn thing. it's seriously pissing me off in a way i haven't been pissed in a long time. it's got some nice features but unless i can go back to mixing music i'm not sure that i like this.

windows on the other hand has done something so stupid i'm surprised bill gates hasn't de-evolved into a neaderthal. when you install windows you have to register it. well what happens when you accidentally erase all of it? you can't use an old registration code with windows. and i seriously doubt that the windows trolls will beleive that i erased it. oh well, that's life i guess. good luck with all your pc-ing ventures and just remember not to mess with an install disc at 5 am