@WarPiper
Heh, no problem. I'm something of a newbie when it comes to Linux too, relatively speaking.
OK, the first problem you have is the root issue.
Open up a shell and type "su". This should then ask you for the root password (I assume you did give it one during installtion - 9.1 allows you to not set a root password, but that's a bad idea IMHO). If that works OK, the first thing to do is restart the system to make sure there are no detected problems, and then use the menu to select "Configuration" and "Mandrake Control Center" (this should be the last option I think). You will now be asked for the root password again, and once you type it in the Control Center should come up. Once there you should pick the hardware config... (let me fire Mandrake up and I'll be right back...) :-)