How to reinstall Windows XP Pro on to Ubuntu dual boot system ?

Question

Last year I installed Ubuntu 9.04 on my Dell Dimension 5000 which was running Win XP Pro, giving me a trouble-free dual-boot system - until recently. But now I have problems with Windows being excruciatingly slow, some crashes, unexplained error messages etc - probably due to a load of unnecessary and now unwanted programs I've installed along the way. I've now uninstalled a lot of those, run updated AVG virus and Super AntiSpyware scans but without any improvement.  I would now like to start afresh with a clean install of Win XP Pro - but am worried about complications with my Ubuntu dual-boot setup and some horror stories I've heard about messing with the Master Boot Record.  I would prefer to keep Ubuntu.  Can I now simply format my C drive and just install Windows again? Or am I rushing in where angels fear to tread? I have my Win XP Pro disk, and I've done a clean reinstall in the past - but that was before I had installed Ubuntu which I understand repartitioned my hard disk during installation and altered the MBR (I'm out of my depth here) I'd really appreciate some step-by-step advice on how I should proceed. Thanks in advance! Dell Dimension 5000 3.0 Ghz 3 Gb RAM Windows XP Pro v 2002 SP3

ieee488 · Answer

Reinstalling Windows XP will probably wipe out Grub that is installed in the MBR, but you should be able to restore it.

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

I re-installed Windows XP on a dual boot system, and it did not wipe out Ubuntu. Just pay attention to the message during the install.

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