Thinking of dual boot... have questions first

[cnelson8611]

I have a little bit of experience using Linux but would like more. I've been thinking of installing it on a wiped out, old Windows 98 but thought that it might be better to dual boot with my Win XP.
I want to try Mandrake, Debian, or Red Hat... but need some information first before hand.
I have two drives in my pc and was wondering if I should install linux on the drive which xp is installed? Since Linux is used on servers, I'm sure it works well with systems with two h.d.s?

Any information before installation would be helpful... even those I may be overlooking.

Would it be better to install it to the old pc instead?

Thanks

 

[TheMajor]

You can use any drive you want. I think its best to install XP first.

 

[cnelson8611]

xp is already installed.. do I have to reinstall before installing Linux?

 

[mikesgroovin]

if you use the same drive as the xp installation, partition the linux and swap paritions first....then install linux. imho, install windos first then linux. and i would get used to redhat first or mandrake. once you get to know them....go debian....and then you'll never use another linux os!!!!

 

[TheMajor]

You can also partition using the Linux setup.

 

[cnelson8611]

Eh... this is starting to sound really complicated now! LOL
What about Knoppix? Should I start with that first until I decide what I want to do?

I don't necessarily need to reinstall windows at this time and both drives are NTFS partitions.

 

[TheMajor]

You cannot write to an NTFS partition in Linux, only read permissions.

You can use Knoppix to get used to Linux.

 

[mikesgroovin]

lol....yes, i totally agree. don't mess with linux on your drive until you get used to it from a cd. i assumed you knew a little more. but, if haven't tried knoppix yet.....do it.

 

[TheMajor]

I tried SuSE 7 Pro a few years ago, I totally ****ed up my bootsectors and had to format all drives (i was trying to make a triple boot)

 

[cnelson8611]

I am using Knoppix now... I never thought you there was a GUI too! Thanks for your replies and I will probably dual boot in the near future.