Before you install Windows Vista, consider keeping your existing copy of Windows XP. You'll need to purchase third-party software to do this; Windows XP does not include a disk-partitioning feature. We chose
Symantec PartitionMagic 8.0. A less expensive choice would be Acronis Disk Director Suite 10. Both software programs will repartition your hard drive without reformatting your drive and losing all your data. Here, we plan to take a a new Dell XPS system with a 200GB hard drive with Windows XP Home installed and create a second partition.