I'm sure this question has been asked many times, but I didn't know how to look it up. I recently purchased a computer that unfortunately came with Vista. I have had nothing but problems when it comes to anything media that is not microsoft based. I have tried the software companies for support but they keep comming up short. I have many programs that work very well with XP. So, what I'd like to do is remove Vista and install XP. My question is: My hard drive has two partitions. One seems to be for the operating system and the other for everything else. Can I remove Vista from the one partition and install XP there without having any impact on the second partition or do I have to do a clean install with formatting the drive? This is kind of new for me. The only thing like this I have done is to upgrade WIN98 to XP. Any help would be nice. Please talk slow cause I have to take notes. Just kidding. Thank you.ccnz4enaz  ........ Yes , you may format the one partition without affecting the other one.

dl65  You could do this whilst installing Windows XP as far as I remember.Hey, THANKS. I will TRY to install XP without removing vista from the one partition. If that doesn't work I will format the partition. This is where the newby part comes in. Before this computer, I had never had the need for a second partition. Therefore, I don't have a clue how to format just one partition. Thanks again.OK you are getting ahead of things here...if the system came with Vista pre-installed then it is on the C: partition.
If you wipe it you will no longer have Vista period.
All Windows OS's need to write certain files to the root of C: in order to function properly.
So if you want to retain Vista and install XP to another partition that would work fine...
But normally in a dual-boot setup Windows likes to have the oldest OS installed first and then the newer ones in order...

So my question would be is what exactly do you want on this system and then we can proceed with the proper procedures.

Let us know.Alrighty.....I would like Vista to go bye bye. I just discovered how much of a dork I am. The other partition is my "recovery" partition. My bad sorry. That's what I call a dorkism. So, I guess what I need to know is...If I install the XP disc will it remove Vista and install XP or do I need to do a format and start over from scratch?I would do a format from a boot disk...only reason i say this is i have SEEN Windows balk at removing a newer OS to be replaced by an older one.
Example "Windows has detected that the OS you are removing is newer than the version you are installing"
Ok great thanks. I need to make sure I have the programs and applications I want to keep. And find a way to back up all of my video and music files. Foramtting will clean the HDD correct? It seems like a time consuming process, but I need to be able to continue to work with certain media programs that I can't get to work with Vista. Mostly because I recently spent a lot of money on updating and upgrading them for XP to find out that my old processor was not capable to run certain parts of the program. So, I upgraded my computer and got stuck with Vista.Acronis True IMAGE is the backup program i prefer...burn your music and videos to CD/DVD.
Current best deal on it is thru newegg...

Kudos to GX1_Man !Thank you patio. I will look up the back up program you recommend. Thank you again