i was wondering if their is a way to have 2 seperate harddrives that are connected to one computer that are sepearte for each os(windows already installed on this harddrive) and have a dualboot on the other(linux) so when i start it up it asks which drive to load

Quite possible actually. You can set this up through your linux bootloader (lilo or grub). The specifics of doing it I can't help you with though

ill look up on that

Yes, most distributions will ask if you want to do this in the installer in fact. You can even install two different OS's to the same hard drive (to different partitions), even two different Linux distro's, if you want to try a few. Dualboot is done using either grub or lilo (both do the job fine - depends on the distro which one will be installed by default).

There is no problem with that - read about how to install lilo (a linux boot loader)
Then install it and configure it for your setup.
It can (and will) boot any version of windows without a problem as well as linux...
I have used it for years now ( and I am still using it).

I have - only on the past day and maybe yesterday - commented at least twice to other people with similar questions - so please try to read some threads or search by keyword...

i have another question i want to do lfs and i need to install linux on this harddrive(dual boot on one hd) so i can make it, problem is the first partition is for like the whole harddrive and it ntfs is ther a way to change this w/o losing any of the information on my comp(it has important files on this comp )

If you need to install linux in the same harddrive running ur windows, use a partition software like partition magic pro to free up some space and leave it unformatted. You can instal linux in this space without damaging the files u already have, But its always good to have a backup before u try anything

Resizing ntfs:

Non-free: Partition Magic
Open source: ntfsresize

http://mlf.linux.rulez.org/mlf/ezaz/ntfsresize.html

Or even easier : just delete all your files, install Linux, and restore your important files from your backup into your new Linux partition.

Or, time consuming, but even easier: delete Windows, reinstall Windows in a smaller partition, then restore your important files back into the smaller partition.

Or... nah that's enough for now.

so resizing the partition wont delete any of my good shit?

...if you cross your fingers really really hard till they almost bleed from the pressure, you'll probably be alright. But seroiusly, if you have a cdr, why don't you have your good stuff backed up?

donno how ;/ well i mean i've got all the extremely important stuff backed up but i mean i just dont wan to loose my settings. and i went to that website and i didn't understand what to download or what sizes i should resize my 80gig hd to ?!? im going to go get my other harddrive today either from wal-mart(LOL! never thought i would be saying that) or from office max i think thats what its called

What size you should resize your partition to ?
...well - how much space do you need (for linux?) - and how much do you have (and will you still need) used for windows ?
This is your desicion - and yours alone...

Of course you do not want to loose anything - who does?...
But if you do things like moving or resizing your partitions, there is always a slight chance, that something could go wrong - thats what backups are for.
If you follow the instructions on how to operate the software however, this risc is minimal.
But try - before you go to the job - to understand, what is really supposed to happen.
Know - best you can - what you are doing...
But just imagine a fuse burns out just while you are moving data around - nobody can predict it and this would be bad luck - then you would need a backup.

clean-up, delete temps, cookies, etc, defrag and disc scan, then backup your windows files.
pop in a mandrake cd (it has an excellent partition resizing program) and load away!
just make sure you know how much space you need for your redmond system BEFORE you shrink it down!
luck -O.

Or....forget about installing Linux on your Windows drive simply because you want to install Linux.

Get a live-cd, like knoppix, slax, mepis, whatever, and run it from your cdrom drive. That's how I installed Gentoo (from the Gentoo live cd, but its almost the same thing - just a step or two skipped). Then, you don't have to risk your Windows data.

If you choose this excellent method, try slax, as it boots quickly and seems to have all the important tools.

i've got knoppix but would it work to compile and config lfs? cuz thats the only reason i really wanted to put linux on this hd was so i can get lfs on the other hd so it would be perfect for this ocmp