Need help, about to attempt a dual boot installation

[ausar]

!!URGENT!! Need help, about to attempt a dual boot installation!!!


Hey guys, I just downloaded the Mandrake 10.1 cd iso's and am planning to intsall it next to XP in a few hours. I want to get a few things cleared before I porceed so I don't make the same mistakes again.

1.) I do NOT want linux to install a bootloader or MBR on my hard drive. Why? Everytime I tried, I could NEVER get back into windows no matter what I did. So, is it possible that I make a Mandrake Linux 10.1 "boot cd" or a boot floppy so that my WinXP will boot up by default unless I pop in the linux boot disk? (Preferably, a boot cd since they are more reliable than floppys) If it is in fact possible, where can I download the boot info from so I can put it on the floppy or cd from windows before I install Linux. (Must I do it before I install Linux, or can I wait till I get to that screen where it gives me the option of where to install the bootloader and choose floppy)


2.) Also, when I am partitioning the drive and it asks me for a "root" mount point, what should I do then? Is setting it to "/mnt/root" correct? Also I assume that I am supposed to make the root partition the size of the empty space on the Hard drive. Is that assumption correct?

[serz]

You don't necessary need to install the boot loader. you're asked. You can boot using the Installation cd.

The root mount point should be "/".

[ausar]

The root mount point should be "/".<-------------- Do you mean I should just name the root mount point a forward slash (---> / <---) like so?

Also, how big should my swap be? My hard drive is 80 gigs.

[JohnT]

The root mount point is the point on your drive where you want root " / " ,the head of the directory tree to be placed. In this case it would be one of your Linux partitions . Like /dev/hda6, for example. MDK takes care of most of this automatically. Dual Boot look to my sig.