[newbie] Booting to Linux

[Brian Dryburgh]

I have "installed" Linux Mandrake from PCPlus (UK) October magazine disk. I'm more than certain that I followed the instructions to a tee (there weren't many options).   I used partition E (5Gb) of my previously partitioned 10Gb HDD to locate Linux. Windows OS is on C (2.5Gb) and my data is on D(2.5Gb). Now, I can't access partition D, though I see that this is a problem encountered and tackled before (it's in the webpage's FAQs)........but I can't boot Mandrake to get it back. There's nothing in my root C directory to give me the option of booting to either Linux or Windows. Is there something I can download ? Are there additional settings to change in BIOS ? I can't access Linux directories or partitions from DOS (or windows) either - is this correct ?   Yep - I'm a complete Linux novice and have been a little bit quick to jump in!   Please help - I need to access the data on D:\ quickly !