Ok..I made a CD of the ISO file I downloaded(Mandrake 8.1)....and now i have some questions about the install. As you can see from my signature, I have the follwing setup currently:
One hard drive comprised of 4 partitions(All partitions are FAT 32)

C:Win98
D:Win2000
E:WinXP
F:Backups(16GB Free)

"F" is where I want to install Linux. When I boot from the CD I made, what do I need to do to be able to select partition "F" as the install location? Do I need to boot from the CD or can I run the install program from within Windows 98 as I did with my 2000 and my XP installs. Also, will Linux be added to the "boot.ini" file so that it will appear on the operating system select screen when I first boot the computer?......Any help would be very appreciated. Thanks..........

firstly forget all this D: F: crap, linux doesn't uses such a lame system as that. erm... you need to shrink the free partition with the tools in the mandrake installation, and folow things as they go along. the boot.ini file won't be touched, as it's a nothing to do with linux, it'll want to install LILO, which is a decent boot chooser, and from there you'll select linux or windows and then get thenaff win2k boot menu up. you can easily remove lilo tho and edit your boot.ini file to do it that way if you'd rather tho.

Isn't that weird how while linux is considered more complex the old dos partition format is much harder to understand (visually) than linux..

So what youre saying Acid............is to go ahead and install Linux.....and I should also install the LILO program?..If I understand you correct after all this is done......when I boot my computer i will see a screen asking whether I want to boot Windows or Linux.....correct?........then if i select Windows....the normal boot selector screen with my Win98,Win2000, and WinXP operation systems will show up. Is this correct?.........Also, Will Linux give me option of what partition to install to in the setup process?.......I just dont want to screw up my configuration that I have now because I have everything just the way I want it............Thanks for the help

Yes, the Mandy distro is well done when it comes to installation, during the install process you'll be able to choose which partition you'd like to sucrifice to linux, then you can manually set the partitions or let the install do it for you, it is fairly easy.