I'm a newbie, need help

    I've recently installed Mandrake-Linux 7.1(my first time using
Linux). I've followed all of the instructions and everything, but it
doesn't seem to be working correctly. When I start it up there seems to be
errors and then when I use the startx command to get to my desktop, there
arent any icons and i cant run any programs. Is there anyone I can contact
to get some help with this? I tried contacting Mandrake, but they didn't
reply back.
Thanks