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Here's what I did:

  1. Run the computer for the first time and followed the automatic os installation
  2. Formatted the second empty ntfs partition (70Gb)
  3. Installed ubuntu nbr (jaunty)
  4. Messed around with partition size to give more to ubuntu.
  5. Used the computer with dual-boot
  6. Installed win7RC on the xp partition

Now I want to re-install xp.

Is the ghost utility going to install it on the current xp partition or is it going to wipe out everything ?

Here's my setup:

Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x9358c633

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1        6374    51199123+   7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2            6375       18813    99916267+   5  Extended
/dev/sda3           18814       19451     5124735   1c  Hidden W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sda4           19452       19457       48195   ef  EFI (FAT-12/16/32)
/dev/sda5            6375        7394     8193118+  83  Linux
/dev/sda6            7395       18448    88791223+  83  Linux
/dev/sda7           18449       18813     2931831   82  Linux swap / Solaris

enter image description here

I think it should be alright because in a moment of drowsiness I once booted the PE partition and woke up when I saw a "restoring partitions" message instead of the usual boot messages :] and that only corrupted the ntfs partition without touching grub. But I might be very wrong.

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2 Answers

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So long as you stick to the existing ntfs partition you should be fine but you'll have to reinstall GRUB afterwards

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/ubuntu/reinstall-ubuntu-grub-bootloader-after-windows-wipes-it-out/

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Careful with that.....I know that at least my vista recovery partitions have 2 options that sound nearly identical; one of them reinstalls the partition, the other re-images the whole drive. I highly highly recommend backing up your linux install, just in case. – Babu Sep 19 '09 at 19:09
@Col: Thanks. The ghost utility copied the windows pre-installed files on the ntfs partition. I can't confirm it will always does though since someone else's ntfs partition might not be the first one and the ghost utility may create a new partition to solve this. Since it merely copied files to the ntfs partition the procedure didn't erased GRUB. @Babu: Thanks. The ghost utility on 1000HE installs windows xp and when booting the PE partition I was offered one only choice ("installation"). The re-imaging of the whole drive is initiated when pressing F9 when booting the computer. – John Christopher Sep 19 '09 at 22:59
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You can use the factory Ghost image on the 1000HE to reinstall the Windows XP partition without affecting your Linux partitions. Thankfully the recovery image on the ASUS 1000HE only seems to alter the active NTFS partition - it doesn't even wipe out the MBR (which I like cause I was bumming about having to reinstall GRUB)...

Source: Personal experience with my 1000HE on multiple occasions - one of which was approximately 5 minutes ago. Stumbled across this thread randomly and thought I would share for any wanting something more "definitive*"

*use at own risk :) Perhaps there is a chance ASUS included a different re-imaging process on your recovery partition, though I highly doubt it...

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