How to change operating system of your current computer?

Lets say that i have a computer with windows xp media centre..i want to buy a windows xp home and replavce my media centre..how do i do that?? oh and another question,..do i loose all my stuff on the computer if i change operating systems?How to change operating system of your current computer?
most operating systems come on %26quot;bootable media%26quot;, which allows you to pop in the CD, and boot from the CD, and it will walk you through installing the new operating system, this is true for all versions of windows, and most versions of linux.



During an operating system install you will have to choose which %26quot;partition%26quot; to install the o/s on (it is possible to have more than 1 o/s on your PC, its called dual-booting)..



if you format, or overwrite the partition that your data is currently stored on, you will lose it - it is a good idea to backup all your important files before installing an o/sHow to change operating system of your current computer?
Not sure why you would want to go from Windows XP to Windows XP (the Home and Media Center versions really aren't any different, other than the packaged in Media Center software).



Yes, you will kill personal files (anything that doesn't come installed with the Operating System) by swapping versions. However, version upgrades (and although it's not really an upgrade, but if you went from XP to Vista - that is considered an upgrade), provided the upgrade is done from an upgrade disk and not a full version, will sometimes keep personal files.