I downloaded and burned PCLos. After booting my computer with the PCLos cd in the drive I chose the default "Live cd". The computer then ran through some steps. Then I got an error message saying: "Unable to mount loop file system, commands were: losetup/dev/loop0initrd/cdrom/livecd.sqfs mount-r-t squashfs/dev/loop0initrd/loopfs. Dropping you to limited shell". Thanks for any replies.

Hey there 333nnn.

What's you hardware setup? Sometimes livecd's need special boot options added to run, especially on older/unusual hardware.

sorry to hear you're having problems still 333nnn
Do you have a "check media" option towards the bottom of the boot screen ? have you tried to boot it up under the "nonfb" or "safe mode" ? PCLOS works best on newer computers, but some have luck using it on older ones like yours , and then some don't. Do you have a friends computer you could try your cd on , just to rule out a bad burn ? does your Compaq have any software for hardware diagnostics your could try ?
I ran your error message as a search at a couple other places an got no real matches as is , but a few partials as to hardware problems mostly as far as I could make out.

My hardware setup. I should have included this in my original post. Compaq Presario 5000, Model 5BW220, Made 7/19/00, Windows XP Pro, 15 Gig master drive, 37 Gig slave drive, 512 MB RAM, 631 MHz Intel Celeron processor, Compaq 06C0 motherboard. I have played around with the Ubuntu live cd but no others. What other distros should I try that most resemble Windows? Thanks.

Which PCLOS are you using? Like no one said try the 'Media Check' option and
if it passes try 'FailSafe'
When you get the limited shell you can try this command:
tail /var/log/messages
The last few lines should show the error.

You also might want to try Puppy, just to check out your settings.
I burned a copy of Puppy 4.0 and tried it on three different machines
with different Operating Systems...works great....By the way, much
has been added to "Pup".....I really like this version....

I just tried the new version in vmware player and have to say it is
definitely worth a look if someone is looking for a 'lightweight' distro.
Coming in at 80mb it certainly packs a full system in a small space.
I was disappointed that Firefox was version 1.5 which meant i had
to hunt down an old version of adblock.
Also tried the TinyMe version of PCLOS and it too is excellent, everything
i've come to expect from the gang over there. A little bigger weigh in at 200mb.

http://www.puppylinux.org/
http://www.mypclinuxos.com/doku.php/tinyme:home

Raw, I burned a TinyMe disc from the web site you posted..And am now
running it on a very slow computer.....Looks pretty good. Fact, that's where
I'm posting this from...Thanks for the tip on the site.

Looks like they made a few changes since Test6-b (could only have helped ), I should probably check it out sometime.