[dba-Tech] Linux Newbie in Distress

Hi All,

Some of you are knowledgeable about Linux, so I am turning to you for 
help.  I'm enrolled in an HP Linux 101 class and I'm having some 
difficulties that have not yet received response from my classmates or 
instructor.  Perhaps one (or more) of you will be able to point me in 
the right direction.

The distro being used for this class is Fedora-7.  I have done the long 
downloads to get the ISO image files - the full install DVD version and 
the Live Spin CD version.  Preferring to go the virtual machine route, I 
have downloaded and installed the VMware Player.  To get the Fedora-7 
Appliance, I have downloaded and installed BitTorrent, and completed the 
22-hour download of that Appliance.  That seemed to be working just 
fine, and I had a nice virtual Fedora-7 machine running.  In its initial 
setup it asked me to created a "regular user" profile, so as not to be 
always using the administrator level, root user power (and possibly 
screw up the things I am not yet familiar with).  I did that, but felt 
uneasy, because I wondered how I would get back to the "root user" 
profile if I needed to.

Well, in lesson 2, in the section on installing Fedora-7 in an actual 
partition on your hard drive, it states that during the setup you will 
meet the Set Root Password dialog box.  In my virtual installation, that 
dialog box was never presented to me.  Because I truly cannot afford to 
screw up my main computer, I did not want to play around with 
partitioning my C:\  drive, which is why I chose the virtual route.  
Lesson 4 is all about doing administrative things, which I cannot do 
because I cannot get into the "root user" profile.  Since the VM Player 
route hadn't worked well, I went back over the documentation for lesson 
2, where mention was also made of using the VM Server and configuring 
the VM to read the ISO file as an optical drive (no explanation, just 
mention).  So, I downloaded and installed the VM Server - which required 
uninstalling the VM Player so the VM Server installation could reinstall 
it (not mentioned until well into the VM Server installation process, so 
start everything over AGAIN).  Four experiments later, I have found how 
to do the configuration to use an ISO image file as an optical drive, 
but, the machine fails to start, sending a few error messages, including 
but not limited to:  no operating system found, no VM Tools installed, 
and can't find floppy A:, and CD drive (0) will start disconnected.

My questions could all be boiled down into one, I suppose: "What am I 
doing wrong?"  But, the answer to that might require a full book, so 
I'll give more specific questions.
1) In an existing virtual Fedora-7 machine, where no password has been 
created (by the human trying to create this thing) for the root user 
profile, is there any way to get into the root user profile?
2) Is it possible to create a virtual Fedora-7 machine with a stop at 
the Set Root Password dialog box?
3) If it is not possible to do this in a virtual machine, can I set up a 
partition for my Fedora-7 operating system on my USB external hard drive?

Any and all assistance in this will be appreciated.  I need to know 
something about Linux, and I am being thwarted by hidden gotchas that 
nobody told me about, and for which, so far, I am receiving no 
assistance from my instructor or classmates.

Thanks for putting up with my woes.

Tina