Hey very_unhappy..
I have similar hate with Apple..
It seems if you already have the itunes installed - Foisted by the Quicktime install (you do have options if you look.. but only for the moment).. and you want to install (to my experience) any Creative Zen.. you will have a retarded experience trying to get the basic drivers and let alone the sofware installed.... solution is to uninstall the iTunes....
When it comes to Multi Booting Win OS's and others.. If you have more than 2 OS and one is MS based your best using a boot loader and stay clear of MS's default crap (which seems limited to 2)
As for the Booting Problem.. (I hate to admitt) easiest solution is to remove all Windows and linux partition, repartition and format the drive.. and start again...
Oh and yes it is/has been/ and probably continue to be a fact of life with MS.. to not support any other OS than itself in its bootloader...
