repairing a dual boot set-up

[geezerinct]

Hi computer illiterate here. Found this website and am impressed with knowledge display..

So after the brown nosing , now my question..

I was planning on purchasing a dual boot system but I am being dissuaded because of a friend raising a major concern. The concern was if on a dual boot system the winxp installed became corrupted in some way, how would you restore the os without wrecking the boot record, which would prevent vista from booting right?

I guess my concern is the complexity of the solution and would appreciate any answers to my dilemma...

Thanks in advance