where do files go when deleted from ext HD?

I finally got my new ext HD up and working, it's a seagate 250 gig, in a ultra USB2 case. I posted here earlier because I wanted to copy everything from my 40gig internal HD onto it, I was finally able to do it using a free trial of acronis, instead of Norton Ghost. Now I have 3 questions.
1. where do files go when I delete them? In other words, when I delete file from drive C they go into the recycle bin until deleted or restored, but the ones from drive I (external HD) do not. Can I set something up, or is that just how it has to be?
2. Now that I have all this luxurious space, I'd like to install a version of Linux and test the waters so to speak. Should I do a partition for it, and what is the best version to start with (I know that's a tricky question) If I am able to learn it and find it friendly enough, I'd like to try to become less dependent on M$, especially since they won't be supporting ME (in more ways than one) anymore. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
3. Since my new USB2 drive is a copy of my old one, is it possible to boot into it if something goes wrong with the old HD? I haven't tried that yet and wondered if it's possible and what I might have to do to make it happen.
Sorry if these are lame questions, I just thought I'd ask the lifeguards how deep the water is before I go wading in.

 

answers:
1)there must be recycle bin in it too< or you can adjust this feature, other way they are deleted completely
2)i don't know the exact answer, linux has it own type of partition it's EXT2 EXT3, so you can repartition to this FS yourself yousing a partition prog(for example disk director), or partition it while you will install linux.
3)it's possible if you motherboard supports booting from USB device, you can find it out in you BIOS.

 

thanks for the reply Plaphon,I had almost given up on this thread, there is a recycle bin shown in drive I, but deleted files don't show up in it for some reason.
Is disk director a free program, and where can i find it?
thanks again

 

open properties of recycle bin, find tab of your ext drive, then adjust space allowed for bin.
disk director is not a free prog, there is a link in recent post to it's site.