Hi there,
I've had a situation similar to yours. Just recently I had a single
hard drive and used to have Win98 on it. Afterwards I decided should
have another hard drive for Linux. I believe that you've already done
a big step which is the choice of the Linux distribution that you are
wanting to install ( which is Mandrake 5.3).
I am assuming that you are going to have two independent hard drives
installed in your machine. And also that both Hard drives are IDE ( I
have not tried SCSI drives). And that you're going to access them in
LBA mode. ( If you don't know how to do this, I strongly advise you to
find somebody with the expertise to install the Hard drives and define
which becomes the master and which the slave).
Bearing in mind that you've listened to my advise then the next step
is to gather information on how to have a dual boot system, this can
be done by browsing the Mandrake manual (see
http://www.linux-mandrake.com and look for the doc section of that
home page this will take you there).
After reading that you'll need to decided what type of installation
you are going to do :
Assuming that your computer allows you to boot from your CD-ROM then
there is more or less nothing to fear. Go to the BIOS setup ( once
your computer is started will read the memory and startup PNP cards,
right after this press the delete key on your Keyboard and this will
take you there) and change the boot sequence ( tell your computer to
boot from the CD-ROM) and save the settings and exit ( read the BIOS
setup carefully and do not perform any other change if you're not
familiar with this stuff).
Once you've exited your computer will restart and start the booting
from the CD-ROM, from there you should follow the instructions in the
screen. However please read the Getting started manual for
installation ( the one that I've just referred to previously).
The second possibility is that your computer does not boot from the
CD-ROM. In this case you'll need to have four floppy disks ready (
format them) for the following operation.
1. Create a boot disk ( this can be done using your Win95/98 system
whichever the case). Place your Mandrake CD in the CD-ROM and look for
the subdirectories DOSUTILITIES and IMAGES. In the DOSUTILITIES
you'll need the rawrite program which will allow you to create the
disks. ( I do not have the entire procedure at my fingertips right
now, but I can email them to you if you want).
2. Create a Supplemental disk
3. Create a rescue disk.
After you've done this then you use the boot disk to start the
installation. You should be able to find a set of options of install.
Choose install from the CD-ROM and then from there on things will
follow their way. ( I am assuming you've read the Installation manual
that I've just referred to).
If every thing is done the way I've suggested then do not worry about
harming your Windows System ( there is a program called LILO = Linux
Loader, this will take care of the dual booting). But I think is
better for the moment that you install your Linux system in the
primary IDE drive ( if you're having an IDE drive) and LILO will be
installed in there and Linux will your default OS. Whenever your
computer boots up you'll have the option to boot whichever you
choose, if after a certain delay you do not define which the system
will boot to Linux since you've decided it to be the default. Later
when you feel more comfortable with Linux then you can configure LILO
and change to DOS as the default if you ever like to do so.
PS: The 4th disk is for LILO. You will only need this almost at the
end of the installation.
I hope this help. Let me know, privately if you've got any problem, so
that we can discuss.
Cheers
Bernardo
