okay I have a computer (new but not top-o-the-line) with win XP and try as you might not to puke I love it however not to be the close minded person I am I also want to have Linux too. The Win XP hard drive is SATA and the Linux one would be an IDE of some sorts (EIDE I think). How ever due all my work stuff (on XP) I would like it if the Linux OS didn't even know the SATA is there or at least never attempt to access it. Is this even possible and if so how?

p.s. oh yeah duh the distro I would be using would be the newest Suse

dosen't really matter!! Linux will not try to access devices other than it is instructed to. Well if you're scared then plug out the windoze drive, install linux on the IDE and plug it back in! so when it detects the new drive, just reject it!

Yes, if you are somewhat paranoid, I would recommend disconnecting the Windows drive during the Linux install, just to avoid any confusion. After the install, it will leave that drive alone unless you tell it otherwise.

the short answer is sure you can do that - however as suggested you may want to play it ultra safe if you're a complete newbie and disconnect xp. if there is any fear I would have, it would be xp borking the other drive, not the reverse.

note that if you disconnect the xp drive, put the other in its place, install, then try to plug both back in to dual-boot, you may have to edit /etc/fstab (and perhaps some other files that I can't think of right now ) - its an easy fix, just fyi.

If you are getting paranoid thinking your xp will be consumed by linux whilst install, just remove the xp drive physically before install and make the linux install in other disk. FYI, Linux doesn't consumes drives other than the one it is instructed to, however, most new users fail to identify the correct drive during install and end up supplying wrong information to the installer and then end up losing their precious data and then blame the Linux installer. So it is good to get paranoid when in self doubt, goodluck!

Cool okay thanks all.