Linux and XP on 2 different HDs?

It is entirely possible Its how I was doing it for awhile until I went completely linux. You'll install the drive, and then start your linux install, you'll need to fdisk the new disk of course and create linux partitions, the bootloader is then loaded and will boot either OS on either drive. What distribution are you planning on installing if you don't mind me asking?

I've also seen hardware that mounts on the front of the PC that will let you pick the hard drive based on which button you push - electronically vs. via software.

They could be totally independent - not relying on a boot loader to choose the OS.

hmm

a friend of mine rigged a switch up to the slave/master settings on his hard disk, and then he used fdisk to tell both of them they were active partition......

worked killer, two completely different machines, one running 98se, and the other running ME, not that i would have done all that to run ME.

LOL

~BoB~

Thanks for the info. I'm not really sure what distribution to get. I'm kind of a newbie at linux, so I was thinking of going with the SuSE distro. I'm gonna be doing lots of programming, CGI, and (of course) gaming. So if you have any suggestions as to the distro I should get that'd be cool.

Well everyone has their favorites... In my humble opinion I think Mandrake is the best newbie distro, I just downloaded RedHat 9 early this mornig but haven't played with it yet so I don't have verdict, 8.0 was ok I was partial to Caldera before they pretty much went under and started pimping SCO Unix again You might want to try vector linux or college linux.. they are off shoots of my preferred distro Slackware but with a friendly interface that help you build a nice gleaming linux system with enough hand holding to not run away scared or become an alcoholic

i have 2 systems that had Windows 2000 and SuSE linux on them. each OS was on it's own hard drive. the older system is now just pure linux, while the newer is still set up the same way. I have windows on the first hard drive, and linux on the second. i'm currently running SuSE 8.1, and it works just great. i've been able to play Quake 3, Return to Castle Wolfenstien and NeverWinterNights beta for linux is out right now.

just install windows first, then linux second. i've tried redhat 7.x before, but i prefer SuSE. i haven't tried the new redhat though.