Installing Win XP Pro (Retail SP2) on a RAID 0 array

I have a CD of Windows XP Pro SP2 Retail. I'm building a PC with two 128GB SSDs in a RAID 0 configuration to give 256 GB of storage and fast read times. Ubuntu can work with these drives fine, and is already installed. However, Windows XP setup cannot detect any HDDs and refuses to continue.

I looked in the manual for my chipset, and it says that I need to create a floppy. The problem is, I have no computers with floppy drives, and the PC itself doesn't have a floppy, and I'm not even sure if I have a blank floppy lying around. :-o Additionally, it's somewhat vague on how to create this floppy, including where to find the drivers.

So, what do I do?

 

Ah, sorry, forgot to include that. It's an Abit KN9 Ultra.

The BIOS supports booting from USB, but I'm not sure if XP itself will (never done it.)

Thanks for helping out.

 

Any idea on what I can do? Thanks.

 

I couldn't download the driver on abit's site, so I used:
http://download.cnet.com/nvraid-32v111-zip/3000-18492_4-209613.html

From there, you should be able to extract and copy the contents of disk onto a floppy. Don't just copy the folder, but the contents.

Then find a usb floppy drive.

Or use nlite, as was suggested by davidgp.

 

One problem with the floppy is that I cannot use all USB floppy drives with Windows setup. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/916196 I cannot buy any floppy and hope it will work.

Nlite won't work as I don't actually have Windows on any of my machines at the moment. :/

 

Here are two threads talking about modifying the xp pro cd to support more usb floppy drives:
http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/82711-using-a-f6-driver-with-usb-floppy/
http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=20543

 

Looks good - so I would have to burn a blank CD with a modified XP setup on it?

 

theefool already located the raid/sata drivers but here's the link at abit.

NvRaid Installation Disk. They offer 32-bit and 64-bit.

http://www.abit.com.tw/page/en/download/download_driver_detail.php?pFILE_TYPE=Driver&pMAIN_TYPE=Motherboard&pTITLE_ON_SCREEN=KN9+Ultra&pSOCKET_TYPE=Socket AM2

You may want to download the applicable zip file and extract the contents to the desktop. Open the new folder and copy all of the contents inside the new folder's subfolder to the root of the new folder so that all files are in one folder.
Next, burn all files in the new folder onto a blank cd.
Go to the computer's bios and set the boot sequence to search for the cd-rom first.
save changes and power down the machine.
insert the XP cd-rom and boot up.
The Windows screen will appear and prompt you to press F6 to install 3rd party drivers. Press F6 quickly.
remove the windows cd-rom and insert the newly burned cd with the sata/raid drivers. Windows should find the drivers and complete the install.
remove the cd and re-insert the XP cd.
press control/alt/delete to reboot the computer.
the computer will boot the xp cd. follow the prompts to move through the installation.

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