Formatting primary drive partition

also xp doesnt come into it..

origionally i had vista and one drive 'c'

i partitioned c so i gained a g drive

i then installed w7 on g --- this works fine

then i wanted to get rid off c so i deleted manually from the c drive all the files i was alloud to ( silly move )

now vista will not run atalll , neither can i format or remove the c partition via windows 7

Have you got all your data backed up? If so, you could boot from the Windows XP CD and remove all partitions during the setup procedure, then create a new partition for XP. Then, you can install Windows 7 using the space left on a 2nd partition.

This would be a clean install, but you would then have the two operating systems you were initially after working as a dual boot.

when i try to boot from xp cd, it just gives me a shed load of problems due to inconsistency and corrupt files

Im thinking what has happened is Windows 7 installed to G: but the boot files are on the first partition Drive C:

You may need to reinstall Windows 7 to C: that would put both system and boot files on the same drive

This would also clear up drive g:

I use this technique when installing multiple OS's - I install OS to first drive then make an image file for back up and then I can place it on any drive when the other OS's are hidden.

The easiest way would be to boot using the W7 or Vista dvd and delete the partitons, create new ones and reformat both partitions, exit the instalation.
Next install XP or Vista whichever you want, when finished reinstall W7.
Remember to backup your data first.
While this may seem a long way around, I think it will be quicker and less prone to problems in the end.

I noticed after dual booting Windows 7 RC under Vista that BOTH showed up under Computer as C: drive. If Matt was thinking he was deleting "everything he was allowed to" under C: drive (while thinking he was deleting Vista files) he may have actually been deleting Windows 7 files instead because he thought that Windows 7 should show as G: drive.
If this is the case, then his system is totally hosed and it's time for a complete reformat and clean install of one or both systems that he wants to use.

Regards,
Piepaw