If partitions really weren't safer, Linux/Windows/etc would make dual-booting unworkable; as it is only the bootloaders are occasionally problematic.

Always Install Windows First and Linux Second When building a dual-boot PC, the order in which you install both operating systems is crucial.

Several users have reported an issue where Mac OS X will not startup properly after partitioning the startup drive with Boot Camp and installing Windows XP. For these users, Windows XP boots ...