I hate that(not providing the OS install discs, it makes things harder in unique cases because i may not always have a copy of xp, and i don't even have disc of vista to fill in what a customer doesn't have for their computer because of the manufacturer of the computer wanted to do things different), that's something i've seen on a couple of the new computers my customers have when i fix it. Although the recovery partitions they come with are useful in quick and major fixes pretty much pulling a fresh install while leaving your **** and your programs and your settings in tact. Sort of like how reinstalling win98 on a partition that already has win98 installed on it will "refresh" your current installation with new fresh OS files from the cd without having to back anything up. Anyway, the easiest way to partition is getting a hold of a linux livecd of your choice.
There's knoppix as a livecd, but i believe you'd find that a little to confusing as knoppix is a little cluttered in my opinion and what people use it for boggles the mind. On the other hand for an easier linux livecd called
Mepis is a lot less confusing, organized, and a lot more user friendly.What a livecd is pretty much a linux os that boots soley off a cd not requiring installation to a hard drive. What this brings in mind "hey this sounds right up my alley" and it is. You can access your hard drives, rescue stuff, modify data, backup ****, format, repartition, anything with a linux livecd. A linux livecd is quite the ultimate pinnacle in the ultimate of recovery cd's you can get(and it's free). I suggest mepis, it's the easiest to figure out for those who are use to and are windows inclined. I'm not saying get mepis to install and replace vista or dual boot with mepis on the hard drive (mepis is installable as a natural OS as well). No, i'm just saying it's a damn handy livecd that you could ever make use of in times of system crisis as it makes things so much easier as you'll get one of the benefits of linux without really having to dive in too deep or dive into linux at all.
Along the lines of formatting and repartitioning, that is one of the things windows makes very hard to do. The only formatting and repartitioning i have ever seen in windows to date as a dedicated formatter and repartitioning program was only in the beginning of any windows setup. With linux, every distribution always include either gpart, qtparted, or parted, which are the easiest to use programs for redoing a hard drive in any format you desire.
This link here will give you a basic run through on how to partition and what partitioning is. Of course this is also a demonstration of gparted, but with all partioning programs out there, they all do the same thing in pretty much the same manner as you see with the gparted software. Gparted is a good program, it lets you resize partitions without losing data on them, it lets you add as many partitions as you want, in any format you want. Very useful program. Anyway, to get a hold of doing gparted or qtparted i recommend mepis as it includes both of these great programs. Also with partitioning from a livecd you wont have to worry about redoing your hard drive while being in an OS on your hard drive

As far as system recovery goes, i'd just setup an extra partition with sufficient space to backup the data you want. Then when something ****s up, you have all of your drivers, software, personal files, etc. all on that backup partition so you can just pull a re-installation of vista, and then go ahead with putting your system back the way it was. Reinstallation is not always necessary if you need to fix small problems, but ifyou have big problems and no knowledge of how to fix, or time to fix, then your data is already backed up by you, and you can just pull a reinstall. OS installation these days usually takes under half an hour, most of the time 20 mins or less sometimes even...OS installation is quick is what i mean to say, and also easy.