uninstalling xp

"IF" you performed an upgrade installation, AND choose to save the current configuration, then you can uninstall XP and drop back to the prior operating system.

Otherwise, you cannot uninstall an operating system.

You can remove the OS, but this is not a simple task.

Now, 2 questions:

What OS do you plan to switch to?

Is the hard drive formatted as a FAT32 or NTFS volume?

Any way we do this, you will need to re-install any application software and device drivers.

The simplest and safest way to do this is to start with a clean hard drive. If the drive was formatted as a NTFS volume, this is the only way to go back to W98 or Me.

1. Back up any critical files including your address book and any account settings you need.
Make sure that you have product keys for all software.

2. Run a system inventory utility such as Belarc Advisor (www.belarc.com)
Download the latest device drivers for all hardware and burn them onto a CD.

3. Boot from a startup disk.
At the DOS prompt, run the command
fdisk /mbr
Then, run fdisk
Answer yes to the question to enable support for large hard drives.

Delete the Primary DOS, or non-DOS partition.

Exit fdisk and reboot from the startup disk.

Run fdisk and partition the hard drive as desired.
Make sure to set the Primary DOS partition as active.

Exit fdisk and reboot.

At the DOS prompt, run the command
format C: /s

When the format is complete, enter a volume name and finish the format.

Insert your Windows CD in the CD drive.

Run the command setup

If you wish to go back to Windows 2000, you can mount the drive as a slave or secondary drive in another PC running Windows 2000 or XP, and delete the system files.
I recommend all files in the root folder of the boot partition.
And all files and folders in the Windows folder.

Then, place the drive back in the target PC and boot from the W2K CD.

Chas