Bart Vantieghem <bart@NOvantieghem.SPAM.net.invalid> writes:

> Hi group,
>
> I have installed gentoo for about a few months now and I really love it,
> but there is a "small" problem. I cannot boot Windows XP anymore...

You have already taken the most important step. You saved a copy of
your partition table by posting it to usenet. Now when you trash
your MBR following everyone's advice you can just download it from
google (I'm not joking!) Saving your partition table is the
most important thing to do before you start trying to solve this
problem. Print it out also, or write it down.

Sadly, I don't know the RIGHT way to restore XP's boot block to the
XP partition, so what I have done in the past is this: I go through
the XP installation CD to the point where it discovers the existing XP
installation and offers the choice of rescuing the prior install or
doing a fresh new install.

I choose the rescue operation which then reinstalls the original XP
system files and make the XP partition bootable again but does NOT
remove the Registry or any applications you already have installed.

This means that when you reboot you will need to do these things:

1. Reinstall GRUB to your Master Boot Record (MBR). A GRUB floppy
or Gentoo install diskette is the easiest way to do this. After
rescuing XP you may not be able to use GRUB until you re-install
it. (I'm can't recall whether XP writes over GRUB or not.)

2. Reinstall all the WinXP Service Packs and hot'fixes' from the
WindowsUpdate website. You will NOT need to re-install any apps
like mozilla or Visual Studio or Office, etc, as long as you
refuse to do a fresh install of XP.

If anyone knows how to re-install the XP bootblock to the XP
partition without all these extra steps, please speak up!