Possible to secure a partition?
 

I'm on a publicly used school computer, but we are low-level administrators in this lab. I like to install my own copy of XP Pro on a seperate partition (with customizations and my own set of apps.) I also save my homework and personal files sometimes on there, too. Although, my logon is password-protected, anyone on any other copy of XP can access my partition and files. Is there any way to prevent this?

You can use Windows XP's native encryption function (found in the file properties check box area). Note that while it makes the files unreadable, from another Windows or Linux OS (on the same PC), it would be feasible for someone to delete the files or corrupt them. It would also be possible (if they know how to hack well) for them to copy your password file in the system32 folder (it would be unprotected since that copy of Windows is not active) and crack your password (or even change it), making it possible for them to access your files (if someone has physical access to a PC, unbreakable security is almost impossible).
What I would suggest is installing Windows to the hard drive and all sensitive and irreplaceable data be put on a flash drive or external hard drive (you can snag 120GB external hard drives for around $100 now). Then you can make a backup of the WinXP install (as frequently as possible) that you can re-install with minimal fuss should some dick mess up Windows.