Mandriva Linux: Recognizing external hard drives

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Excuse me, but i've been interested in free operating systems for a while, and recently today, i've downloaded a new OS called Mandriva Linux, in which you can find and download on this site: http://www.mandriva.com/ I downloaded Mandriva Linux One and burned it to my CD-R disk, and it worked! The CD ran the free OS smoothly and easily, and it looks fun to play around with. I also surfed the internet through the OS on the CD, and I even went to MyLot on Mandriva Linux. However, there's one little problem: My Seagate 80GB external hard drive isn't found there. Windows XP recognizes it even though it's been on during boot-up, but not on Mandriva Linux. I want to put Mandriva to the test, and yet I don't know how to find and use my external hard drive ther. It's not my first time I used a free OS. I've used a floppy drive-sized OS called Menuet a few years back, but it couldn't play any media. Mandriva Linux played sounds okay, but its my first time. Is there a way to make Mandriva Linux recognize removable drives of any type or kind?