Completing installation
Bootloader
Copying files will take several minutes. Once this stage is complete, you will be asked to setup the bootloader. Again, there are several advanced options available, none of which should overly concern you now.
Basically, you can decide whether you want the boot menu to include graphics or not, in case you might encounter a problem with your graphic card, where the bootloader will be installed (MBR or the boot sector of the first primary partition) and the time the user has to decide before the default image is booted.
If you are only running Linux, you should use the default options. I also recommend the GRUB loader rather than LILO. If you intend to use Mandriva in conjunction with a Windows operating system, you should install the Windows first, as the Microsoft operating systems conveniently overwrite the MBR any time they are installed.
Once you setup the bootloader, you will be asked to configure the boot menu. By default, this menu will contain entries for all available operating systems, including special switches (akin to Windows Safe Mode and similar options). Most people cannot easily read such entries. If you have more than one operating system running, including Windows or other Linux distributions, you might want to modify the names of these entries so you can identify them when you boot your system.
You can also leave the menu unaltered. Nevertheless, as another sprinkle of proof unto the simplicity of Linux, I will change one of the entries, just to show that there is no black magic involved.
Still, at this stage, if you are not quite confident about your Linux skills, I suggest you only change the Label and do not alter any of the other options, as you might render your system unbootable. Of course, you are more then welcome to learn what the other settings mean and how they can be configured. Furthermore, you will be able to edit the boot menu any time you want, after you have installed Mandriva. But that's a lesson for another time.
This is what the modified menu looks like.
You have completed this stage of the installation. Reboot your system. Safely.
Finding the shutdown option might be a little tricky for Linux starters using GNOME for the first time. As you can see, the Shut Down button hides under the System menu.
Once you restart, you will reach the boot menu. You can see the changed entry that tells us what operating system we're booting into. Not that we had any doubts ...
The installations is not yet complete. You are required to configure the network, setup the root password and create your local user.