Formatting a Hard Drive during installation

I'm installing Windows XP Pro. I'm using a WD250G SATA hard drive. I've
installed the controller drivers for the motherboard (F6) option. I then
chose to format the drive (one large partition). I chose the "non" quick
option.

How long should this take, in general? Based on the first 25%, it is going
to take 10 hours. (I'm building a pretty fast system (specs below), would
that impact the format time?)

I ask because I'm having issues with the install. I've had a few STOP
errors. I believe it was related to the fact that I did not install the SATA
drivers the first few times. (A usb keyboard did not register the F6 button
being pushed, so I was never asked to insert the floppy that came with my
mobo).

Now, I want to make sure the drive is fully primed for a new install.

Thanks.

cpu - intel core 2 x6800 (2.93ghz)
mobo - dfi infinity 975x
ram - 2g (1g each) corsair ddr2 800mhz
video - nvidia quadro fx1500

blueice007 wrote:

> Thanks for the quick response.
>
> Hmmm...I thought something was wrong. Is there some way to test the
> ram on
> this system? Everything appears okay in the bios. My other system
> won't take this ram.
>
> My gut (and the various errors I've seen) lead me to believe that the
> problem is the harddrive. Even though it was working in my other
> sytem, I think something happened during the various install attempts.

That's why I gave you the link in my previous post. Those are general
hardware troubleshooting steps, including how to test the RAM and the
drive.

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User