Ok Drandy here goes, have a read and let me know if there is anything that i have overlooked, or anything that I need to explain a bit better:
First things first:
Set the BIOS up.
To do this on boot up press either the delete key or F2 (Probably tells you in your motherboard manual or will say on POST screen as it boots.).
1) Once in the BIOS get the system time and date set correctly.
2) whilst your there check its picking up your CPU and memory correctly.
3) If they are ok head over to the BOOT options section (It is usually its own section within the BIOS) again your motherboard manual will probably be able to help.
4) In the Boot options, set your CD/DVD drive to first boot device, then the hard drive and then the floppy drive.
5) Once all of this is done put your Windows CD in your chosen boot device drive.
6) save and exit the BIOS.
7) Your system will then reboot and go through the POST screen detecting your hardware as it goes.
8) Then depending on your system it will either say
BOOT from CD ROM:
Press any key to boot from CD......
or it will just come up saying
Press any key to boot from CD.....
At this point press spacebar or enter (or any key you like infact).
9) Now a blue screen will appear with Microsoft Windows XP at the top, then a whole load of stuff will appear one after another on the bottom (Setup is loading files).At this point you need to load a third party or RAID driver by pressing F6 (This will allow setup to see your SATA hard drive if setup doesnt automatically detect it). CAUTION: the press F6 option is very early after this screen has loaded, watch for it at the bottom of the screen. After you have pressed F6, it will continue to load files. Yout then need to press S to load the drivers, then insert your driver disk and press Enter. Not sure where the setup goes from here as I dont have SATA, just have some faith and it'll be ok. (MAYBE SOMEONE ELSE COULD CONTRIBUTE TO THIS BIT????? PLEASE)
10) After it has loaded a whole load of files and drivers it will welcome you to the setup, your options will now be:
i) TO set up Windows P now, press ENTER.
ii)To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.
iii) To quit setup without installing Windows P, press F3.
at this point press ENTER to proceed with the install.
11) Next is the END-USER LICENCE AGREEMENT. F8 agrees to it, page down key scrolls down so you can read it if you want to.
12) Ok, now the tricky bit. If this is being installed on your Raptor that already has windows on it then setup will want to know if you wish to repair that windows install or install a fresh copy. To install a fresh copy press ESC.
13) Setup will now list all the hard drives and any partitions on those drives (See Picture).
If you want a fresh install on your raptor, press D to delete any information on the drive, some more screens will, follow, I think you need to press enter on the next one and then L on the one after. Cant confirm that as I would wipe my disk
.
14) Once you have got a clean space for the install, just select the partition or unpartitioned space (however it is labelled) and press C to create a partition, you then have the choice of entering how big you want it to be. Once created you will return to the same screen, with the newly created partition and some unallocated space. To create another partition for Apps & Games just select the unallocated space and press c again to create another partition (This second partition will need to be formatted within windows!). To install windows, select the partition you want it installed onto then press enter.
15) Format the hard drive or partition, usually you only get a choice of NTFS(quick) or just format NTFS. If your hard drive has been previously formatted NTFS there is no harm in using the quick option. If your raptor was formatted FAT32 or you are using a new Hard Drive, please make sure you do a full format (NOT THE QUICK FORMAT OPTION). Windows setup will then format the drive, then copy the neccessary files, it will then reboot and install windows. Just follow the promts as it goes through setup. IF YOU HAVNT CHANGED YOUR BOOT ORDER REMEMBER NOT TO PRESS A KEY WHEN IT TRIES TO BOOT OFF THE CD.
16) Once windows is installed and your faced with the familiar rolling green hill, its time to get those drivers installed. You can now take the Windows XP CD out of the drive and change your BOOt order in the BIOS to boot from your hard drive as a first boot device (this will save on boot time if that bothers you). (See number 24 for formatting the non windows partition)
17) First up are your motherboard drivers. On the CD that came with your motherboard. Install all of the drivers from the CD, making sure to reboot when prompted.
18) Now install the graphics card drivers, again rebooting if prompted.
19) Now any sound card drivers you have, followed by any other remaining PCI cards you may have in your pc, e.g. wireless network adapter.
20) Depending on which version of XP you have installed you may need to install some service packs.
21) Once you have all the service packs and drivers installed that you can think of, double check by going to Start->"Right-Click" My COmputer->Properties. This will open up system properties, select the hardware tab, then click device manager. Anything that still need installing will be in a section called other devices and will have a warning triangle next to them. A common one is that a USB controller need to be installed. If you have got service pack 2 installed, just right click on it and select reinstall driver, then get it to install the driver automatically (It should search the drivers built into windows).
22) once all that is done its time for windows updates, Open intenet explorer then go to Tools->Windows updates and get everything you need from here.
23) once thats done, your finished, just reinstall all your software and your away. You may want to check things like updated graphics card drivers as the ones on driver CDs are probably out of date.
24) To format your other partition, go to Start->"Right-Click" My computer then select Manage. In the tree on the left hand side select Disk management (Under Storage header). This will display a bunch of info about your drives, "right-click" on the unformatted partition and select format (See pic for example). This will then set off formatting the partition. Be patient as it may take a while to do this depending on the size of the partition. Now go get a cup of tea/coffee/Pint/Spirits, whichever is your preffered tipple and sit and relax whilst it does that.
Format:
Hope this helped
Any other problems with this then please let me know.
Good Luck. Give me some feedback on how you get on, hope the guide jogs your memory a bit!!