On 06/09/28 11:04 (GMT-0400) Gordon Keehn apparently typed:
I have a computer that dual-boots Windows XP and SuSE 10.1. The first hard drive contains a 100 mB Linux /boot partition followed by two large NTFS partitions for WinXP. The second drive contains my SuSE root and swap partitions and a 20 gB shared partition. Accumulated errors dictate that the time has come to reinstall WinXP. (Much as I'd like to, it is not possible to eliminate Windows altogether, or make SuSE my default platform, so please don't spam me with suggestions to do one of those things. Thanks.) Anyhow, reinstalling WinXP will reset the install drive to a single large partition, losing my linux boot partition.
Why do you think that? Do you have one of those awful system restore CDs instead of a real doze installation CD? That need be no obstacle, as you can make your own: http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,122487-page,1/article.html?findid=51120
Can I take a backup of the /boot partition before I install windows, then boot from the SuSE CD into rescue mode to restore the partition contents and reinstall GRUB?
Of course. I did something like this Tuesday. I noticed somehow my /boot partition got to be ext3, wasting space with a journal on a rarely used partition. I copied the contents of the device to a subdir in /tmp, unmounted it, ran mkfs -t ext2 on it, remounted, copied everything back, and ran grub-install. Didn't take long either, including reboot. -- "Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. Esteem her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you." Proverbs 4:7-8 NIV Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 Felix Miata *** http://mrmazda.no-ip.com/partitioningindex.html