Installing windows xp after months of vista usage?

I know people said you could dualboot win xp and vista. But I dunno if I can still install xp without messing up all my files in vista?

Will installing xp on a seperate partition mess up my vista with any chance? Or like if I install xp do I need to re-install all my programs with like the windows xp drivers?

If it won't mess up anything, can anyone guide me to a tutorial on how to set up a seperate partition for xp.

There are plenty of tutorials about how to achieve this.

Basically, you just install XP on the second partition, repair the Vista installation using the vista CD, then use a bootloader program like EasyBCD to create the boot menu.

Remember that Vista can resize active partitions.

The main thing is that most tutorials involve starting it at the beginning and adding vista after xp. I was just afraid that I would lose like all my files or corrupt them by adding xp.

Once I add xp do I need to like re-dl graphic drivers and stuff for xp? Since I only dled the vista 32 bit stuff? Or how exactly does that work? I am assuming xp will have no programs on it and i'll have to re-dl everything.

When I install xp is it going to be like a fresh start? No music files etc. no programs no drivers? Or will stuff carry over from vista on to it?

I also am looking for a free software that will actually partition it. Partitionmagic costs quite a bit even though most of it is recommended. Any free softwares that anyone can suggest?

Nothing will carry over from Vista. I'll be a fresh install.

If you have vista already installed you can use the built-in partition manager to resize your current partition and create a new one for XP.