Vista/XP/Ubuntu Partition Question...

[James Black]

hello all.

I'll try and make this short and sweet.
I had gotten a new Gateway laptop last month. The first thing i did was
installed Ubuntu GG 7.10 on it. But now my Vista wont boot. I can see
the bootloader when choosing but it wont load my OS. Instead, it loads
the recovery console that came with the system. Now, i really dont care
about Vista and instead want to downgrade to XP. But when i put the disc
in to run from it, i get an error message telling something about the
HDD not being connected, check the cable. I did some google research and
it seems the installation program isn't reading the HD. My question is,
cant i use a linux application to remove/delete that partition? I am
also looking forward to backing up my entire ubuntu before i do this.

Another question on subject is, i'd be dual booting but installing
windows second. Will this be an issue? I ask because i read somewhere
that the proper way to do it is install windows THEN linux.

Thanx for all your answers.
:)

-JB