Super noob requires walking assistance

Hey all, new to this group and need some assistance. Sorry if this is not in the right discussion group.

I am familiar with Microsoft desktop and server products, but have decided to attempt a Linux www, mail, ftp server. I would ultimately like to have this machine hosting at some point or another.

I have a machine that is a blank slate waiting to be handled. It is:
1.4Ghz P4
Abit motherboard
Highpoint Raid controller
2x 80gb hard drives = Raid 1
1gb PC800

I have tried to install Redhat 9 about 20 times ending with the same results:
rpmdb: fatal region error detected; run recovery - Prior to the machine rebooting
or
-bash: startx: command not found (I know using a graphical interface is a no, no... but I am more of a visual person.

Here is my objective or help I need:
1) I am willing to scratch everything I have done (which is much), can someone baby step me or point me to some step by steps after the installation is complete. Infact as I write this, I am squashing the machine again and installing RH9 with minimal options.

I'm sure I'll have more questions after the above...

Thanks i advance.

 

 

 

 

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