So I've just created a new NFTS partition to install Mandrake on. I put in Mandrake CD1, reboot, but the installation screen never comes up. It shows the Dell splash screen as usual and proceeds to load XP . (I've tried the CD in both of my CD/DVD drives, no luck.)

Also, another thing, I've read something about boot loaders like Grub. Are these neccessary to be able to have a dual boot system? I've had a dual OS system before with Win98/Win2k and I don't recall needing any special software to choose the OS. I would just get a black and white screen at startup that allowed me to pick which OS I wanted to load.

Thanks for the help in advance. Also, if there're any other potential issues I should know about (no, I don't have an LG drive), don't hesitate to tell me .

First off. Check your BIOS and make sure you have your CD-Rom selected as a boot device, if it is could you tell us how your burnt the ISO (of the mandrake CD's)

I dont think you can use the windows loader as I dont think it can read linux partitions. NTFS wont work for linux, just get linux cd booting delete the partition you put aside for linux (the NTFS one) and have mandrake auto allocate it if your not sure about setting it up manually. Use either Grub or Lilo as your boot loader.

Nope, I don't seem to have the CD drive selected as a boot device. So I'll have to take care of that.

As for the partitioning, if I do it myself with PartitionMagic instead of the Mandrake installer, will FAT32 do? Or will it have to be Linux Ext2/3?

The CD was created with Nero. It seems ok. I can explore the files on it and it does show the initial menu that tells you to reboot.

Oh, one more thing, will Grub/Lilo work if in the future I add a third partition with something like a BSD distro or another Windows version on it?

Okay,

Dont bother with NTFS or FAT32, just use the Mandrake installer to do the partitioning. when you get to that bit of the install select custom partitioning, click the partition that you want linux on, click delete to remove the partition, click on the empty space and click auto allocate. This will setup your / your /home and your swap partitions.

You will be able to add/delete things from Grub/Lilo in the future to accomadate future OS's, if you install a windows OS though you are likely to overwrite Grub/lilo from the MBR and you will need a boot floppy to restore it.