Installing a new OS

Wasn't sure where to put this question, but this seemed like the right spot Ok, so I had 2 laptops (1 w/ XP & 1 w/ Win7). The one with XP died. So, I got another laptop from a friend, but it has Win7 already installed I liked having 1 laptop w/ each of the different OS on them. So, if I wanted to install XP over Win7 on one of these comps, what's the best way to do it? I want to just do it on the used one I got from a friend since it has nothing on the hard drive I want to keep, so I assume that would make this easier But, would I just put in a XP CD into the laptop I want to change & install it that way, or would I need to uninstall Win7 first & then install XP? Thanks for any help

Do a Clean Install of XP by booting the CD.

The only problem you may have is finding drivers for network, video, sound, etc. May not be a problem, depends on the manufacturer and age of the computer.

Another problem is the Windows license. If the original XP license that came with your XP notebook is an OEM license (and it most likely is) then it is inextricably tied to the "original equipment" - the notebook it came with, and it is NOT legally transferable to this new notebook. If you have an extra, boxed, "'retail" license of XP, then you can install it legally on the notebook - as long as it was not used to install Windows on another computer currently in use. That said, XP is old, obsolete, and much less secure than Windows 7. XP needs to retire. If you don't want W7, I might suggest one of the many, free and secure versions of Linux.