Rediscover Communication

I have reached an untested solution today. I was thinking about it while working, and it was simple once I got away from the computer. I am reinstalling XP. I will erase Linux completely, but when time comes to partition, I will saw my hard drive in two. I will make one (say 20 GB) partition for Windows, Leaving a 10 GB Linux partition. I will format both for NTFS. Upon completion of the XP install, I will begin installing Linux. I will reformat the 10GB partition to ext2 or whatever Linux prefers and complete the install from there.
I will try this. Why does it seem so simple now? It helps to step back from the computer and think a bit.
update at 11
jeff