how to instail winxp and vista home

[kev.uk]

:confused:
hi

here is my specs


:conOpSys: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition - Service Pack 3.0
Motherboard: ASUSTeK Computer INC. P5N-E SLI (Version 1.XX )
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E4600 @ 2.40GHz (Clock Speed 2399 )
RAM: 2046MB
Video: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX/9800 GTX+
Sound: Creative X-Fi Audio Processor (WDM)
Sound: Realtek High Definition Audio
MODEM: Not Reported

Drive: SAMSUNG SP2014N (Size ~186 GB)
Drive: SAMSUNG SP2014N (Size ~186 GB)
Optical Drive: LITE-ON DVDRW SOHW-1673S

any info on how the best way and the easiest way this cud done would be very much appreciated

[Mini-Me]

Hi.
Assuming that the hard-drives are IDE not SATA, then proceed as follows:

1) Connect ONE HARD-DRIVE ONLY, jumpered as PRIMARY-MASTER, connected to the first IDE port. Connecting only one drive, eliminates any possibility of installation problems - it can happen(and has happened to me in the past!), so it is best to only have one drive in position during the install of XP. Once everything is up and running, you can then connect the other drive, but for right now...

2) Connect a CD-ROM drive as SECONDARY-MASTER.

3) Fire up the computer, and enter the system BIOS.

4) Ensure that the boot-up sequence is set so that the system will try to boot from the CD-ROM drive FIRST - this is vitally important, or you will not be able to start the XP install.

5) Put the XP CD in the CD-ROM drive, and re-boot the computer.

With standard IDE drives, the system should start-up from the XP CD and get to a point where you can partition or format your connected hard-drive.
That done, you just follow the prompts, basically, and XP should install.

I would not recommend allowing the XP install to use the entire 186GB partition - it is better to create a smaller partition(say around 30GB) and install XP to that. Once XP is up and running, you can then use DISK MANAGEMENT to configure and format the rest of the drive.

If your drive(s) are SATA, then you will need the SATA drivers on a floppy-disk during the XP boot-up(from the CD), so that XP setup can load these drivers, otherwise it is 99% likely that the XP setup will simply not see the SATA drive - even if the system BIOS does. The only exception to this, is if your system BIOS supports emulated IDE for the SATA ports(many do not anymore, as Vista and Linux installations are "SATA-aware" whereas XP is not), in which case, you most likely won't need SATA drivers, but it's always a good idea, if you are installing XP to a SATA drive, to have the SATA drivers handy just in case.

Good luck.
:)