Is it possible to boot linux from a USB flash drive (not with linux on the flash drive, just the boot loader). My laptop doesn't have a floppy disk drive, so I need a way to fix this problem:
My Windows XP partition has gone psycho and won't boot anymore, and I want to reinstall windows on it ... or format it and use it as extra space for linux, but either way I think I'll be removing MEPIS's bootloaded ... making it to where I can't get into MEPIS anymore. So I need some way to boot into linux after formatting hda1 (Mepis is on hda5). And afterwards, I would like to reinstall the bootloader on the MBR, but I don't know how to do this either ... I searched around for a while, but didn't come up with the first part of my dilemma, so didn't see the need to search for the second part yet.
Thanks for the help.

I don't do USB, so I wouldn't know.

But if your box supports booting from CDs, you could always get a Live CD and install your bootloader of choice from there.

hth --Jonas

and i would install a bootloader using a LiveCD ... how?

The same way you installed it without a Live CD

For lilo, it would be editing your (/etc/)lilo.conf and running lilo. I wouldn't know about grub, but I suspect it to be almost the same (GIYF).

Be sure that you're knowing what you're doing. Read the comments in the config file. Read the manual page (man lilo.conf) at least twice. Read any other documentation you can find.