Fresh XP 64 or Win 7 load problems

[greatlabguy]

I would like to begin by saying that I have modest experience in fresh builds on my gaming rigs, but to date, I have not had this difficult of a time loading up a fresh Win OS. My hardware is as follows:

2 x VGA SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL HD4870 1G R (Crossfired)
2 x MEM 2Gx2|MUSHKIN 996601 R
1 x CASE CM|RC-690-KKN1-GP BK RT
1 x PSU CORSAIR|CMPSU-850TX 850W RT
1 x MB ASUS M4A79T DELUXE 790FX AM3 RTL
1 x CPU AMD|PH II X4 955 3.2G AM3 R
2 x HD 500G|SEAGATE ST3500418AS (SATA / RAID 0)
1 x DVD BURN SONY|AD-7240S-0B

The problem I am experiencing, is trying to load the OS while having both HDs in RAID 0. I went as far as changing a single drive to IDE mode and finally got the OS to install, at that time I loaded all of my drivers. I tried going back for a clean custom install, and it wouldn't allow it. It was asking for more drivers. Now either my last rig had the drivers right on the MB disk and was readily seen, or I just got lucky, but my last system didn't have much of a problem with a fresh install. I am starting to believe that one of my HDs is a brick or something. If anybody would offer some advice, I think I am just too baffled at this point to think "outside the box". The answer is probably right in front of me, but I am just not getting it. I would also like to add that I do not have a floppy or thumb drive to work with, only the DVDs I have been trying to use. Thanks in advance for any help you all wish to offer.

 

[r_manic]

Are you trying to setup RAID on Windows XP? http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/170182-32-installing-raid-drivers-floppy

 

[greatlabguy]

Thanks a ton, the slipstreaming was a bit confusing for me being of below average tech exp, but I was able to install the drivers with a thumb drive through vista (xp or win7 didnt want to cooperate). The main problem was that the drivers were only available compressed on the CD for the MB and there was a utility to create a disk on there that only used a floppy. I was able to find the uncompressed drivers, and the vista version I had installed was able to load them through the thumb drive through the "browse" part of the load. It took about 4 days total figuring this out, but at least I finally have my stuff working at a basic level.