]My motherboard (Abit BE7 [non SATA, non-RAID]) currently has no available
]EIDE connectors. On the Primary channel, I have two hard drives. hda holds
]Windows 98SE, Windows 2000 (yes I know it is a waste and I look forward to
]the happy day when I can put the space to better use) and a few extra
]storage partitions. hdb holds Mandrake Linux and several storage
]partitions. On the secondary channel I have a CD burner as master, and a
]DVD reader as slave.

]I'd like to get a large HD and use it to install more versions of Linux,
]and for additional storage. I just got SuSE 9.1 Professional in the mail
]with the Novel free technical resource kit and I'm eager to install it.
]Also, I'd like to try a permanent HD install of Knoppix.

]So my questions are, if I buy a retail box HD (Western Digital, most
]likely) that is larger than 137 GB, shouldn't a drive that size come with
]a PCI IDE card in the box that will work even though my current IDE
]connectors are all in use?

No. Why should it? Drives are drives, IDE bus cards are idebus cards.

]Will I be able to install additional Linux versions to hdc and continue

hde and hdf you mean.

]multi boot with Lilo? Or would I need to use the new drive for storage
]only and will I need to contain my additional Linux installs to hdb (or
]hda)?

Depends on your bios. Some bioses can boot from additional drives, some
cannot. Ie, some bioses can only boot from one of the first two drives.
You can always put their boot or / partitions on to /dev/hda and put the
rest of teh partitions onto /dev/hdy.

]I know I could solve this problem and free up an IDE connection by buying
]a new DVD burner / CD burner combo and a new hard drive, but buying a DVD
]burner and a new hard drive is a little more than I want to spend right
]now.