I can't get my XP Pro system to boot the RAID drive.

Specs: Powerspec B647, Intel Core 2 Quad, 4 GB RAM, two 500 GB
mirrored RAID hard drives (RAID controller drivers integrated into XP
via nLite).

The only "nLite" that I have know of is used to assist in creating
bootable installation CDs for Windows.

I downloaded the Nvidia RAID 16.12 drivers from the Powerspec website
and used nLite to integrate them into an XP install disc since the PC
would not recognize my external USB floppy.

Does
"Windows XP Pro[fessional]" mean you are using the 32-bit or 64-bit
version of it? If the 64-bit version, you MUST use a 64-bit version of
drivers.

Only 32 bit XP Pro supported. I'm confident I'm using the correct
drivers especially since the XP recovery was not allowed to proceed
until I integrated those drivers.

If you are using a multi-boot manager then it, too, usurps the bootstrap
area (first 446 bytes) of the MBR.

No multiboot manager present that I'm aware of.

Can someone make sense of the next steps I should take to get XP to
boot properly? Thanks.

Have you tried installing Windows *without* the RAID support that you
slipstreamed into the install CD? That is, slipstream another CD using
nLite that does NOT have whatever RAID drivers/software that you
slipstreamed in before. Just see if you can get Windows to boot from
your non-RAID setup.

I tried unsuccessfully to install without the RAID drivers.
I integrated both SATARAID and IDE drivers into the XP CD.

In a reply to your own original post (rather than burying it under this
subthread) so others know the actual details of your setup, identify the
following:

- Make and model of motherboard.

P6NGM-FD (MS-7366)

- RAID controller chip on the mobo, or RAID controller card (make &
model).

Not specified on Powerspec website.
http://www.powerspec.com/support/sup...selection=B647

- Are all hard disks IDE or are all SATA? Is there a mix of IDE and
SATA hard disks?

All SATA. The Powerspec B647 PC comes standard with 1TB RAID 0 (2 x
500GB SATA RAID HDDs) which the P6NGM-FD (MS-7366) motherboard
natively supports.

- Where you got the SATA drivers (if using SATA drives).
- Where you got the RAID drivers (mobo maker or RAID chip maker).

At the Powerspec website shown above.

- If Windows was already installed and then you tried using RAID. Get a
non-RAID version of Windows working first before adding RAID.
Do mirroring afterward (as long as the mobo or chip maker state that
doing so is non-destructive, or you want to experiment on a fresh
install of non-RAIDed Windows with no user data to lose to do the
destructive checking yourself).

I don't think that will work.

- Which service pack level for Windows on the install CD.

SP3

- Are you relying on just the software-only RAID support included in
Windows, or a RAID manager app provided by the mobo maker, or relying
just on the RAID BIOS settings?

Relying on BIOS settings. Powerspec comes standard with the ability to
downgrade from Vista Business to XP Pro so I don't think there's a
need to make changes to the basic RAID configuration in order to get
XP to boot.

- If using hardware-level RAID (i.e., in a RAID BIOS or a Windows GUI
utility that interfaces with the RAID BIOS).
- Does Windows install successfully if not using any RAID config?

No it does not.

- After installing Windows (in a non-RAID config), did you ever install
the chipset drivers provided by the mobo maker?

N/A

You do realize, right, that mirroring is only for hardware recovery, not
for data recovery? Anything you do to your data on the primary drive
will get reflected on the mirrored drive.

I planned to save My Documents, Desktop, Favorites, Start menu and
Wallpaper folders before implementing fixmbr, if needed.

If you use imaging backup programs then do you really need to use RAID
mirroring?

RAID mirroring is standard per the PC specs. It's not my computer so
I'm reluctant to make basic hardware configuration changes.

I want to thank you for your exhaustive analysis of my boot issue with
respect to RAID hardware and software. My greatest issue now is to
determine whether I should go forward with a fixmbr command to see if
it'll fix things or just make things worse.