trouble installing linux

[Arthur Pirika]

hi, I have a strange problem, and wondering if anyone here has any ideas. I 
want to play with linux, but would like to try it in a vm under windows, to 
try things out. I have two distros here, arch, and grml. I'm using windows 
xp pro sp3, and vmWare player 3.01.

Arch loads perfectly fine, speakup comes up, but lately, arch is seeming to 
have trouble retrieving packages. Protocol and/or timeout errors are the 
norm here. Even selecting different mirrors doesn't help.
Grml just refuses to speak, but it does seem to load. as far as i know, I'm 
giving the boot loader grml swspeakup as it's options. Maybe i need to try a 
different vm?
btw, this is grml 2009.10.

tia,
Arthur.