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"Contrary to other ""answers"" this is possible, and I have it working correctly. Here is how I did it. I used the following link for inspiration:
http://ubuntuforumsdotorg/showthread.php?t=1095893
The partition setup was the same from the question.
The Windows XP disk I had was an SP2 version, I did not try any other ones.
You will need a working Linux boot CD w/ grub. I used the standard Ubuntu Desktop Install CD.
In order to get the WinXP install CD to boot:
Start up your working Linux OS, or from booting the Linux boot media. FIRST BACKUP YOUR PARTIION INFO EXACTLY. WINDOWS INSTALL ERASED MINE. After backing-up your partition table, use fdisk or any other partition manager to set the Linxux partition types to '0' or ""none"". This will hide the partitions from the Windows Boot CD.
Write the new partition table and reboot.
If you have extra drives, now is a good time to disconnect them to avoid any confusing during the Windows install. Boot the Windows Install CD as you would normally. Install Windows onto the recognized NTFS partition. Make sure you do not re-partition the drive, or install on the ""unpartitioned space"". This is your Linux FS.
After the Windows install completes and tries to reboots, this is where you might run into problems. On my attempt, Windows re-wrote my partition table and removed all of the Linux partition entries (but did not change the geometry), therefore it was able to reboot into Windows and complete the setup. Either way, at some point you will need to correct your system to get your Linux partitions booting again.
When you are ready to go back into Linux, re-enable all your drives (if disabled) and boot with the Linux Media CD you have.
From the Linux terminal, correct the partition table on the disk by restoring/recreating it exactly from the backup.
Re-install grub back onto the MBR of your hard disk. This can be tricky, but this is how I did it on my system:
mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/root
mount -o bind /dev /mnt/root/dev
mount -o bind /proc /mnt/root/proc
chroot /mnt/root /bin/bash
mount /dev/sda1 /boot
grub-install /dev/sda
Update your grub boot menu to create an option for your Windows partition. Append the following to /boot/grub/menu.lst:
title Windows XP
rootnoverify (hd0,2)
chainloader +1
makeactive
Finally, you have to correct the boot.ini file in your Windows volume. You can mount the volume like so:
mkdir /winxp
mount /dev/sda3 /winxp -t ntfs
vi /winxp/boot.ini
Here is my working boot.ini file for reference:
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS=""Microsoft Windows XP Professional"" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
You will notice that you have to change the partition(N) to match your drive layout.
If you have followed all these steps, you should now be able to reboot your system, get to the Grub menu, and reboot into either Linux or Windows."
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