hi all, i have a very good computer 0nly 5 years old and i wanted to know if it's to old to partition it to XP ? i have the XP disk .

I assume you mean install XP. Or do you mean shrink the size of the current OS, create a new partition in the now-unused space, format the space, and install XP on that? I wouldn't recommend doing that because you can easily lose your current OS. It may be possible, but you'd have to use a special utility to get both OS to show up. If you really want to try that, check HowTo Geek's instructions
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/8790/dual-boot-your-pre-installed-windows-7-computer-with-xp/

I suggest getting a second hard drive if you decide you want an XP installation on the computer. It's way easier.

A 5-year-old computer might be too new for XP. Vista was released in 2007, and name brand computers started using hardware that was Vista-compatible and didn't support XP.

You need to check and make sure your motherboard, video card, etc. support XP. If this is a custom made computer and not a name brand, check to see if the motherboard is supported. Otherwise check the website of the computer brand.

Do you have any activations left on the XP disc? Usually the retail versions that come in a box have 3 activations. The "for system builders" type of CD has only one. You may be able to reactivate on the same computer without using up an activation, but a five-year-old computer would not have come with XP.

thanks for your response ,you told me just what i thought , i will check in to that.it's a HP computer ,i can check where i got it and see if they can help me on that . would a external hard drive work ???

Look for a model number on your HP.
(for example, HP Pavilion p6720f)
http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/bph07555

Even if you can't find the info on the HP website, you can do a web search for XP on that particular model. Maybe someone has figured out how to run XP on that model even if it isn't officially supported.

Most name brand computers have a restore partition on the hard drive that allows you to put the OS on the computer back to the way it was when it came from the factory. If you think you might ever want to use that, it's another argument against shrinking the main OS partition and creating a new partition for XP.

Good luck.

it is a hp pavilion elite hpe-410y

Just make sure that you can find XP drivers for all of your hardware. Also note that many XP drivers for newer hardware may not be all that optimized. There can also be speed and stability problems. Given the potential issues it may be more trouble than it is worth, especially since there will not be that many games that work on XP that will not work on 7. The biggest issue is the 16-bit stuff if you have x64 Windows.

thanks -it looks like I won't be doing that.

I only see drivers for Vista and Windows 7 for that at the HP website.
http://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/self...2/model/4311962
I think it is too new for official XP support.

If you want XP, I think you'd be better off looking for a new old computer that was made before the release of Vista.

And on the 16-bit support issues on x64, there is this that looks very promising. https://www.facebook.com/groups/SierraHelpPages/permalink/1779832908923225/

Collector, that WOULD be good news! I'm thinking Shivers 1!!

Yes! That would be fantastic!

That is specifically the one that is first on my list of future replacement installers that this would permit. Be sure to watch the YouTube link to see the progress he has made. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYsl5B_CefU

Watched the YouTube segment. It looks very promising.

And looks like it might even be easy enough for me to use!