I would disregard the idea of using loadlin. If you have a second drive available for just the linux, I would format it into linux partitions, and install Lilo, or grub on the m.b.r., of the first physical hard drive, and let it select your boot. I am at a disadvantage, when it comes to slackware, since the last time I tried it was a long time ago, when redhat was at version 5.2 I wouldn't expect a performance decrease, since windows, wouldn't even be aware of the linux drive. I generally haven't heard of any other performance issues of intermixing two ide hdds on 1 ide cable, as long as they were configured on a standard high speed caple and the jumpers were set correctly. Using loadlin, however ..... I personally, could never see the use of loading another os, just to bootstrap a different one. If slackware kept up, and I would imagine they did (they appeared to appeal to the hobbyist more than the general user), You'll have the new ext3 journaled file system, and a lot of other goodies. Putting lilo, or grub on the mbr of the first hard drive, usually works o.k. There are exceptions, like if your first hard drive has a compatability software running in the mbr, say to make the bios interpret a drive, that it could not, by itself, or similar issues, you can have big problems, like losing all the data on the drive. Five gigs, should do you well as a linux drive. Not pre-booting win, or dos, before linux, should improve your overall experience. I can't give you Slackware specifics, however, as it has been too long a time since I tried one of their distros. As always, backup your data before messing with the MBR of your drive.
