[big orange]

iam running windows xp and i want to find out and if there would be a problem with using the linux mandrake os along side.

[jrbuergel]

The Linux boot loader most used is called GRUB, and it will handle giving you a choice of what O/S to boot into. Just be real careful while installing Linux with partitioning so you keep your windows XP safe, most Linux distros need at least 2 partitions one for swap and for root. There are some good Linux web sites to check out for help. Here are just a couple to see; http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/index.php , and; http://www.linux.org/

[big orange]

thanks so much, but i still think i will wait until i can be sure of myself.

[JohnWill]

We also have a Linux/Unix forum here, which would be a good place to start.

I'll move your post there.

[Elvandil]

Originally Posted by big orange

thanks so much, but i still think i will wait until i can be sure of myself.

Do you already have a free partition for Mandriva? If you do, all you need to do is install it and it will automatically create a dual-boot with XP., provided the version you have is newer than XP so it will recognize it.

And always remember when accessing any OS off-line (from outside the OS) that the drives and partitions will have different designations than they do in XP. So you can't go solely by drive letters, for example. You need some other information, such as partition size or location on the drive in order to be certain that you are not formatting or removing a partiton that you want to keep.