Xp/mandrake dualboot

HI all,this is my 1st time here,hope u'll help me :)
The problem is next,i have
amd barton 3000+
ati radeon 9800 pro 128mb
768ddr ram
and 40gb hdd 7200rpm

The problem i have is that i have xp installed on it,now i want to make some space to try linux out,while i'm writing this i'm downloading mandrakes last cd.Do i need to burn it to cd's or can i start the install from hdd.The other question is how to make the partition for linux.And when i install linux how do i boot it?I still want to have my xp as primarmy OS.As you see i'm a newbie :),so any help is welcome

Thanks

it would be easier to burn it to cd & install from there. when mandrake starts to install it will give an option to shrink the xp partition, just accept the sizes & continue to install (or you could make yor own sizes) before doing that, i recommend you defrag xp a few times as it stores files all over the hard drive & may cause problems when it comes to partitioning.

ok thx mate u helped me alot :D

Hi all, I hope all of you help me to solve my problem.
Would you please tell me the way to setup Linux with multiple monitor on multiple video cards.
Thanks!
My email: lgson@agu.edu.vn

depends on your distro,graphics cards, experience,what you have tried,could you post these details please,might be able to help with the additional info

andy