Problem trying to delete one partition with OS

[zaza]

I have this media center PC, it has 2 partitions, one has a new install of XP Pro on it, and the other Media Center. Now, I re-installed MC on it, and have to choose which OS I want to boot, so okay, I boot MC, and on the desktop I think all I have to do is just right click on Local Disk J which has Pro on it, and format, but it says something about set up files, and won't let me delete it. So, I think alright, I'll boot my own copy of xp pro, and then delete the original OS through the installation, but I do that, and for some strange reason, it leaves Pro on there, and kills my copy of MC, so, I can obviously re-install MC, and use the key on the back, but I can't leave it with Pro on it, because that key belongs to me, and I need to sell this PC.

Not sure of what to do. It just will not let me remove the XP Pro partition..

 

[rpstewart]

The basic problem here is that the system is booting off the partition with XP Pro and using the boot.ini on there as the boot loader. Hence the system won't let you format that partition.

The simplest way round it sounds like a re-install of MCE but delete all the partitions and create a new one during the install.

 

[zaza]

thing is, I can't delete the partition with Pro on it from the blue installation screen, I get the same message, contains setup files or something. So, simply won't work by the looks of things. What's other options do I have?