I need some info about dualbooting, as I'm going to install Mandrake 8.2 aside windowsME.
I have 3 harddisks, so space wont be problem.
I've planned to use 1st disk (6gigs) for Windows, 2nd disk of same size for Mandrake and 3rd disk (30gigs) for programs of both systems.

So I have some questions:
1) Do I need to install some special program to get dualbooting?
2) How to restrict entering from Linux disk to Windows disk and viceversa?
3) Is there any possibilities that Linux and Windows will mess each others although they are on different disks?
4) Wich one is easier to install after other?

1) no, mandrake will sort it out for you
2) huh?
3) no. i ALWAYS recommend putting winodws on a slave drive and linux on master, which will mean that the linux bootloader (lilo) will have NOTHING to do with windows at allo, and you can just switch the harddrives back round to return to the previous state (i.e.. no linux). you'll proabbly need to edit the lilo configuration a tiny bit to make windows load, but it's vastly safer in the long run.
4) ALWAYS install windows first. ALWAYS.

Hi there...

1. You will need to install LILO. fortunately this come with linux

2. Windows will not be able to read you linux disk, if you try to access it from windows it will tell you that you need to format it, which is the last thing you want to do (thanks bill) so watch out for that.

3. They shouldn't, just remember that windows like to ask you to format anything that is not windows.

4. Install windows first. Mandy will detect its presence and setup LILO to dual boot for you.

2. There are some programs that allow you to access ext2 partitions in Windows. I haven't had a chance to try them out yet... Permissions will be a problem, since fat32 doesn't support permissions. So, don't make a backup of your system on an fat32 disk from a ext2 disk. make a tarball instead.

Thankyou very much for enlightening info!
So, I need to remember:
1) to put Linux on master hd
2) never even try to acces Linux hd while playing Firearms in windoze
3) Install windows first.

Right?

Just about... you can install linux onto any drive you want but winme needs to be installed on the primary partition of the fist disk, so you will be installing linux to the second disk /dev/hdb or the first disk of the SECOND IDE controller /dev/hdc. If you have an IDE CD device I would connect it to the second IDE controller and have your win install on the master and linux on the slave. This is the easiest way to set it up and so it gets the thumbs up in my book

just install windows first and it will do this. Acid was saying that it's a good idea to physically move the windows disk on the IDE controller after install. You don't need to do this if you don't want to though (I havent and I have no probs at all) and you will have to modify the LILO (LInux LOader) to account for this... more work? why bother - you can worry about purism when your the expert your on your way to being

And one more thing, when asked install LILO into the MBR.

Now GO FOR IT

After a while, once you become Linus Jr, you can even wipe the windows HD clean and have extra space in Linux. You will be able to use WINE to play your 1 game that you boot into Winsucks for. Or better yet, you can probably find an open source version of that game. Good Luck!