Could someone explain, or point me to a good resource that would explain the master boot record of an HDD, logical volumes, extended volumes, and boot processing?

I have two HDDs on my system, the first is a 100% WinXP drive, and the second is a shared Linux, Windows FAT drive. I just am trying to find out about what an MBR for an HDD is, what uses it? What role does it play? When I boot my computer cold, how does it go directly to Windows for instance. Why is it that GRUB screws up a WinXP drive if its NTFS?

Those are the kinds of things I'd like to read about or have explained to me. If you know of a really good resource that covers this in a reasonably detailed, but parochial manner, I would be ever so grateful!

Thanks,
Kork

Might be too simple for you but I'm sure you can google and find more info.

http://www.storagereview.com/guide20...structMBR.html

This looks good for starters michaelk...thank you for your time!
Kork