[dgcruzing]

I have had the same problem but to a less degree and its been discussed here before about lost settings in XBMC on these box's.. Extremely frustrating once you have set up a skin that you like..
I just had this happen after taking the box on a work trip..played around and setup the skin just how I wanted it..
Got home plugged it in and its all gone back to standard..

As to the reset partitions and in your case a full reset of the box..I don't know if Fins ROM might help you there..as he has dealt with that hidden partition and rearranged it somewhat. Maybe have a check of it..

Once I get back to a computer I will look for bears post on the script that auto saves your xbmc settings for you as he had the same problem and got a work around going