I've decided to bin Xp 64bit, I have licencing for XP Home so going to use this for the time being...

How do I wipe the OS ready to install the new one?

I would reformat the whole partition.

Start the pc, insert new required cd rom. Reboot pc, enter bios and change boot up sequence to boot from cd first. Reboot pc, and follow instructions to install new O/S from the cd, including the reformat option first.

Works for me everytime.

Just don't forget to change the bios setting back to how it was once the new O/S is installed.

Installed XP Home and now it won't see my second disk because I set it up i XP Pro x64 as dynamic and it appears that XP home doesn't recognise dynamic disks! ARGH!

Now re-installing XP Pro x64 on a different partition with the hope of changing the config of my second disk so it can be seen in XP Home!

:(, im thinking I may have to go down the same road, Now my kodak Z740, Nokia N91, Packard Bell Scanner and my HP deskjet printer wont work on the PC due to compatability issues.

Heres me thinking I was doing a good thing by buying an up-to-date OS :(

It's a pain in the ar*e isn't it!

I have now got both OS on the box but still can't see the 2nd HDD despite it now being in BASIC format and showing in the Disk Managment on XP Home, just will not allow me to assign a drive letter/partition etc etc :(

I managed to find drivers for all my hardware on the manufacturers websites. Chances are its not on any cd that came with the printer/scanner etc. I have been running XP64 for nearly 12 months without any issues, the key is drivers. My pc has an Nvidia 6800 graphics card, Soundblaster audigy2 zs sound, a brother printer/scanner/copier and use a memory card reader instead of connecting the camera to the pc. My sony DSC-P12 connects fine though and appears as a removable drive.

Golfturbo, you cant convert a dynamic disc back to basic without destroying the partitions on the disk first, so make sure you copy all the contents you need off the disk.