Reinstall problem

I am having a problem reinstalling.

I have windows xp home on a dell xps oem version.

I put in the disk and get to where I try to delete the partition and it tells me that I cannot delete it because there are files that are needed on the partition.

I have tried several times to delete it.

Thank you for any help.

Well, first question. why do you need to delete the partition?

Dell normally uses 2 partitions. 1 for disk utilities and the 2nd for the OS and everything else. If you are trying to reinstall on the 2nd partition it should format and reinstall ok without having to delete and recreate the partitions.

Please follow up with more info.