Clean reinstall of XP to boot partitionin a multiboot situation

[Guest]

Posted this a few days ago, got a solution, what is general concensus that it
will work.....
ORIGINAL POST:
I have a multiboot configuration, XP Pro on my main boot partition
and two other OSs on a separate drive in two distinct partitions. My
Boot partition has become corrupted (trying to load Visual xxx 2005
Express software), my .Net frameworks are corrupted and cause other
apps I use to fail. I've tried to reload them, purge and reload them,
EVERYTHING I CAN THINK OF To GET IT BACK! If I reformat and load XP
on my boot partition and therefore wipe out my multiboot config can I
easily recreate it by editing/restoring boot.ini? I have backed up
all partitions in preparation of this but wanted some assurance I can
access the other two partitions after I do the deed.

Thanks!

PARAPHRASED SOLUTION

1. Back up first drive (boot partition with XP) with Norton Ghost as a
drive image, store on removable disk
2. a.I should then boot into one of my other partitions (located on my
second drive)
b.Then wipe my first drive clean (delete everything), except for the root
files that control
NTs booting and the page files etc: (C:\Boot.ini, Bootsect.dos, hiberfil.sys,
ntbootdd.sys, detect.com,
Ntldr, Pagefile.sys)
c. Edit boot.ini (saving original) and remove the reference to the old
partition on C, set timeout to 0
4. ReInstall XP on C but DO NOT Format the drive

Thanks for your feedback in advance.

 

[beb]

Why ghost a corrupt partition. Backup your important files. Disconnect
other drive from the computer. Reinstall the OS. Reconnect the other drive.
Reboot. edit the boot.ini to include the other boot partitions.

 

[Guest]

I'm using ghost as a backup solution, the partition is only corrupt as far as
the .net framework is concerned, and it's affect on some infrequently used
apps. My reasoning was that if the multiboot configuration is destroyed I can
restore the drive image and be back in business as before. Ghost allows me
also to restore files/folders as well as the complete drive. I'm also backing
up by copy all those important files as well.

Thanks!