Like Shenan said....w/o causing any problems" is ill-defined.
I wouldn't have a problem doing it..
I would go to the manufacturers website and download all of the necessary
drivers for my laptop
I would simply start the system with the XP CD and format the Hard drive
then continue with the installation. Once finished I would load the downloaded
drivers.
I would then reinstall
all of my applications from their original installation CD's and
restore all of my personal files from my backup HD.
Are you capable of doing that??
Do you have a retail XP CD??
Do you have the installation CDs for your Programs
Do you have XP drivers for the hardware on your laptop??
Do you have backups of all your personal files??
peter