[ubuntu-uk] Repairing a dualboot Ubuntu-XP system

[David Smith]

I have supplied a second hand PC to a friend, dual booting XP and Ubuntu 10.10 from one HD.  Somehow, he's made a mess of his XP and I need to do either a repair-over-the-top install or a full XP wipe and reload.  Since it is the XP registry file that is corrupted, I suspect that I would need to do a full W&R.

If I do the above, it would (I think) replace the GRUB boot/MBR  with XP's loader.  My question is, could I then boot off a live CD and "sudo grub update" to reinstall and rebuild GRUB as easy as that??  Or is it more involved?  It's a big enough pain that XP is borked.

Advice appreciated.

Dave Smith, lowly MS repair technician and Ubuntu 10.10 aficionado.