Steps to Installing xp over vists - Please

I currently have vista 32 bit installed and i am just sick of it. So i want to go xp pro. I have xp pro sp2. So help me install it .
Right now 2 partitions . C partition has vista 32 bit. D partition has crucial files that i want to keep and that i can't burn off.
So i want to keep D partition and wipe c and install xp. Is this possible i think it is , so my question is will it cause any conflicts and will xp pick it up?.

- I attempted to install xp earlier just to see the options i would get after it did t bunch of hardware checking i clicked next it said hdd not found ??? why is that? is because there is no partion? empty for it?
` Thanks

 

I think you will have to wipe the whole HDD.

 

I don't know why you would have to wipe the entire hard drive. If it is partitioned the way you want it to be partitioned and both partitions are in NTFS format there is no reason to reformat the D partition that has your critical files. However, as I'm sure others will mention, it is unwise to have critical files on any partition and trust that it won't disappear when you install Windows. Yes, if you don't make a mistake 99 percent of the time the data will still be there when you're done. However, if you make a mistake or if something flukey happens all that important info could be lost. I can't imagine why you would be unable to back up the data on the D drive, especially if it's important.

Anyways, the reason you are not detecting the hard drive with the XP SP2 disc is likely because your computer has a SATA hard drive and Windows XP has no SATA drivers built in to recognize it. The way to solve this is to either put the correct SATA drivers onto a USB drive or a floppy drive (if you have one which I imagine you don't) and hit F6 at the appropriate time in the installation process to load third party drivers. The other option (which I prefer) is to burn a copy of your XP SP2 CD which has the proper SATA drivers built in with nLite or a similar problem. It's been awhile since I've done it so I can't really help much more than that. Either do a google search for more info or wait for other input from others....anyways, that'll get you pointed in the right direction.

 

i do have a usb drive :O . So i will do google search for driver or one you can provide a link to me . D drive just has a games. Illegal copy for the witcher which a huge file and i don't want to download it again But i am confused as where the drivers will install from the usb. ?To hdd? which will be wiped?when xp installation happens. Or the update goes on the cmos chip?

 

I don't have a link for your laptop. It took me awhile to find the ones for mine. The SATA drivers will be loaded into the system memory essentially so that the XP installer will be able to see your hard drive. Another possible option is to go into your BIOS and change the way your computer sees the hard drive. There may be an option so it sees your hard drive as the older style rather than the SATA. Once again, you'll have to do some research to see whether that's an option for you though.

 

alright ill give a try