Re-installing on a dual boot

[skiflyer]

I just toying around with Linux on my laptop... it's a dual boot setup, XP and Mandrake right now, I'm up for playing with Debian next so I want to install that over the Mandrake install.

But I'm not sure what steps to take... setting up one dual boot was easy, but now I'm afraid of losing the ability to boot into anything seeing as Mandrake is what installed my boot loader (I'm fairly certain it's just a Mandrake skin over LILO)...

So what do I backup (besides my data) to make this painless? Is it just my MBR, or is it the boot loader itself, or will just sticking in my net install disk get everything going on the right track?

Thanks,
Rob

 

[jsauce]

You should be able to boot with the debian cd, then when you go through the install process it will ask you if you want to format the disk, just select to format all the linux partitions, and then it will install the boot loader probably last.

John D. Saucier
jsauce@magicguild.com
Certified Technician
Network Administrator