setting up drives with ide cable

I want to learn how to do this properly...at least i think i got my rig set up right.
i have a dvd burner and 2 HD's 40gig and 200
I have the burner set to master
the 40gig hd (which is my c set as primasy slave
the other hd is set as just slave (secondary i think)
is this right?
if not, someone please tell me how to get it right...thanks : :

[~Pyrate~]

well.. normally you want the boot drive as primary master...but it shouldn't really matter so long as your BIOS can shake hands with the boot loader...if you are having problems it's best to set it that way

so am i understanding you in that the c: drive should be the first thing to boot up?

[~Pyrate~]

Well, the C drive isn't always the boot drive. But normally it is, sounds like in your case it is the boot drive. There isn't anything that's really set in stone here. To make matters less confusing(and less likely to foul up) it is generally a good idea to have the drive with the C volume boot partition(that is the partition which windows is installed) physically located at primary/master.

But yes, normally you want the C drive as the first thing that boots up. Usually that's(primary/master) where the BIOS points when the POST is finished, unless otherwise specified as is the case if you are using SATA.