Just installed Mandriva One (spring 2008 version) dual with Windows XP software. Mandriva works nice but Windows XP (OEM) is not included in grub
list. How to get it there? IOW. how to add items on list. Simple detailed answer requested because I'm "green" with Linux, and not IT specialist either.

Best thing to do is post the output of fdisk -l command from Mandriva. Run the command as root, lower case Letter L, not a one. Someone should then be able to give you the correct entry to put in the menu.lst file for xp.

Just a hint, but you should always install the most recent stable release of any distribution you want to try. The current release for Mandriva Linux is 2009.0 (whether it be the free, the One, or the Powerpack - boxed - edition). With each release, Mandriva adds native support for more (and newer) devices. Was Windows installed on the computer when you installed Mandriva? If it was, Windows should have been included in the grub menu list. THe easiest way to add a Windows entry to your grub boot menu is to let the Mandriva boot configuration utility do the work for you, then go read the menu.lst file to see what changes were made. With that information in hand, you can then read the grub documentation and better understand what they are talking about.

Open MCC (Tools > System Tools > Configure your computer in the classic menu system).

If you know in which partition Windows is installed, skip Part One and proceed to Part Two.

Part One:

Select Local disks in the navigation list (left).

Open the Manage disk partitions icon in the main pane.

Click the Continue button in the pop-up dialog (you will not be making any changes so no backup will be required).

Note1: In the Mandriva partition manager you will see one tab for each hard drive installed on your system. The first hard drive will be labeled sda, the second sdb, etc.

The Windows partition will be color coded light blue in the hard drive graphic near the top of the screen. Click it and write down the device name (from the Device: line in the Details box below the graphic (usually sda1).

Click the Done button (bottom right) to exit the partition manager.

Part Two:

Select Boot in the navigation list (left).

Open the Set up boot system icon in the main pane.

The options on the first screen are usually correct, so simply click the Next button (bottom right) to go to the next screen.

Typically, in this screen you will see four menu items (linux, windows, linux non-framebuffer, and failsafe). If the windows choice is not listed, add it by clicking the Add button at the right.

In the resulting pop-up window, select the [b]Other OS (windows ...) radio button, then click the OK button (bottom right) to advance to the second screen.

The Label text field should contain windows (default). You can edit (change) the label if you want to.

The Root drop down list should contain /dev/sda1 (default). If your Windows partition is not sda1 (from Part One), click the down arrow at the right of the Root drop down list and select the correct Windows partition then click the OK button (bottom right) to close the pop-up window.

In the main boot configuration window, click the Finish button (bottom right) to save your changes.

Close MCC, then reboot your computer. You should now have a windows entry in your boot menu.

HTH,