ok, i will lay out my situation and hopefully some linux/computer guru will lay the solution out for me. :P
I have winxp installed on my primary HD (60 gig)
I have just picked up a second HD (120 gig) and installed it as secondary HD
I want to set up the second HD as a Linux HD with 3 partitions for 3 different distros.
I want whatever other partitions that are needed for Linux: home,share,etc
atm the linux hd is unformatted. I have tried creating partitions with 7tools PM and I can make them fine but they are not seen from windows (maybe normal) but I don't seem to be able to put any installs there either. I tried Simply MEPIS 3 test 2 and when it asked for where i wanted it I could not type anything in the box and the drop down had only the word 'none'
I am sure it is something I am doing/not doing when i creat them. they show up as 'primary' partitions inside my partition maker but not elsewhere. I am lost.
If someone can talk me through it with mandrake maybe I can get it to work with others as well.. shrug.