I have partitioned my C: drive ready to add a Linux distro. However I also have an F: drive with jumpers arranged so as it acts as a slave/ancillary with my data on it. In the past a Linux install has formated the slave and placed some of the Linux on it.

I can get round this by unplugging my slave during install, then plugging it in again where it will appear (i predict) as read only. Finally I know some commands that will hook it up properly. Must I perform this rigmoral to assure access to F: from Linux and Windows?

There's a semantic trap here:
Windows (and/or Windows USERS) often use "drive" and "partition" to mean the same thing. For example, if you create two partitions on one physical drive, Windows will see--eg-- a "C" drive and a "D" drive.

When you install Linux, the installer will see the drive and partition layout, and give you some options as to where to put things. If you have--eg--two IDE/PATA drives, you'll see hda and hdb---and for partitions: hda1, hda2....hdb1....etc.

You do not need to be disconnecting anything. The best way is to simply make sure that there is free space available---then let the installer help you set up the partitions. If you already have another NTFS partition created, that's fine---just convert it to ext3 as part of the Linux install process.