problems compaq contura 400CX laptop

[Marino]

i'm trying to install debian 2.2 on a laptop compaq contura 400CX with a 256MB hd and 8MB ram. i made a swap partition of 32MB. i fetched my base system via http and it was downloaded succesfully but while trying to extract it i receive the following message: VM: do_try_to_free_pages failed for kswapd and i can't go on. what is wrong? i'll appreciate any help p.s.: i was told to use a compaq contura 400CX and it wasn't a choice of my own