I put the cart before the horse

I mentioned in a previous post about putting Mandriva Linux on a flash drive. I'm still working that angle.
I have read the "sticky" of Linux FAQ. I did my research and have read nothing but great things about Mandriva 2010.
I understand about partitioning the HD and duel booting with Windows/Linux. Now, here is my question. I have a brand new 250 Gig External HD. Could I put a Mandriva Linux bootable disk (after I burn the image of it) in and have it install on the external? Than by going to the BIOS, select Boot from USB device and have it run off the external just like I would if I partitioned the internal drive? I am completely new to Linux but really want to learn as much as possible. I have read A LOT more great things about Linux than I EVER have about Windows.
Thank you so much for any help and education you can give me.

 

Flash drive will give better performance, although what you mention can work. You can then use the external HDD for storage for windows and linux if formatted with the NTFS file system. There is a windows program for reading ext2 file systems with windows but have never had the need to try it. Mandriva is a good choice, currently using pclinuxos-ZEN-mini-2010.1.iso (a Mandriva offshoot) and KNOPPIX_V6.2.1CD-2010-01-31-EN.iso, both were easily set up to run on wireless connections.