Partioning A Hardrive Question

I have a question concerning how to partition a hardrive. I'm still running "windowsMe" operating system. I want to upgrade to "Windows xp pro". Here's my question. I want to set up a dual boot system. I want to be able to run "Windows Me" and "Windows XP" on the same hardrive, by doing a partition. Is this possible? If so, how do I do it?

I'm looking at "Bootit" from the terrabyte corporation" I think I spelled that correctly. I have no idea how to run this software. Anybody give me advice on this? I've never partitioned a hardrive before. This is all new to me. Another question. Must I reformat my computer before making a partition. I hope not. I haven't reformatted in over 3 years.

However, if necessary I'm willing to reformat. I do have all my data backed up on cd. Any help would be appreciated. I just noticed I spelled "Partitioning" wrong in the title to this thread. No way I can edit it. LOL

 

what u need to do is resize your current partition using a utility like Acronis Disk Director or Norton PartitionMagic, then create the new partition.

this page goes over resizing a partition.

 

Hello, Mr2cents,

This was quite popular a while back. A couple of articles for background information:

How to - Dual Boot Windows XP Tips
http://www.winxpfix.com/page5.htm

How to create a multiple-boot system in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306559

regards,

-rich

 

Thanks for the info and links everyone. I downloaded the trial version of "acronis disk director". This program seems easy to use,even for a beginner like myself. However, it's only a demo version. If I want it to work , I must purchase it.

I noticed in the acronis forum here on wilders, that this question has been asked several times. I'll keep you guys updated if I decide to actually keep windows me. After purchasing "windows xp pro".