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I am about to install Windows 7 RTM version on my laptop; I am currently running Windows XP on this laptop.

The laptop currently has three partitions, one for OS and software, and the rest are for my data.

If I install Windows 7 will I have to wipe out my entire hard drive or will I be able to simply delete the Windows XP partition and make a new partition and install it there?

I have taken a full backup of my data but I still want to confirm if it's a requirement of Windows 7 to format the entire hard drive and all its partitions.

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You do not have to format your entire disk to install Windows 7, you can just delete the Windows XP partition and install there.

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You probably don't even have to delete it. Windows 7 will just move the contents of the partition to Windows.old upon installation. – Joey Oct 2 '09 at 18:51
that's what i don't want, i don't want to waste space – rzlines Oct 2 '09 at 19:03
it's for backup purposes, in case your hardware truly isn't Win7-ready and you need to revert. once you've booted and checked it out you can generally delete the Windows.old folder; Win7 may even provide an uninstall option. – quack quixote Oct 2 '09 at 19:55
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