Could someone please walk me through
 

reformatting a partition of this laptop that has linux installed on it. I want to use it as a second partition for windows xp files. I have 1 60 GB drive with 40 GB partitioned for xp and 20 GB for linux. I want to completely wipe the 20 GB partition and use it for xp stuff without touching the 40 GB partition. What programs do I need (fdisk? do I already have it?). Im a little skittish about trying it on my own. Im afraid Ill goof something up and I really cant afford to.

Get a copy of partition magic.

When the program loads it will show you each partition and you then can click and right-click on the partitions you wish to work with and format/alloated/whatever you need to do to them. great program, if rather old. not sure if they've got recently updated versions or not. i think mine is version 8 or so.

Is there any program that can do this that I won't have to buy?

You can get a demo version of PM that should do what you need, but beyond that, probably not without taking a chance on just how intricate you need to work with the program.

Free stuff is never a simple point and click process ;)

besides, PM is worth it.