Dell Utility Partition and Recovery

G

Guest

Guest
So I received an old computer, and decided to take the HDD out of it and put it into my own computer. The drive has a Dell Utility Partition at the beginning of it, then the main Windows Partition, then the Recovery Partition.

I'm thinking of installing Linux on the HDD, but I might want to keep the option open to reinstall Windows and put it back in the old computer. Keep in mind this computer didn't come with a recovery CD of any kind.

I'm wondering how I should go about this. If I remove the Dell Utility partition, can I still use the recovery partition? Is there a way I can make the recovery aspect of this external, allowing me to wipe the entire HDD but still allow me to recover to Windows XP in the future?

There's a sticker on the case with a Windows XP product key. It looks like this:

HardwareCOA.gif


So what are my options? Can I make a recovery CD somehow?