Hi all,

I'm not very computer savvy, however I've learned a bit from reading posts and from other websites recently. I have an Asus P4C800-E mobo, Intel P4 3.2 GHz processor, running Windows XP Home. I'm currently have 2 SATA 120G hard drives set up as RAID 0 (ie the approx equivelant of a 240G hard drive). These drives are plugged into the SATA1 and SATA2 connectors on the mobo.

Here's the issue. I bought 2 more SATA 250G hard drives (Maxtor Diamond Plus 9) to add to the system for additional storage (yes, I know that's a lot!!!)

Anyway, I've read many posts and visited multiple websites for ideas and answers. I understand most of the lingo that's being talked about, but when I try to install them, I simply run into a brick wall.

How do you format them? Partition them?
The remaining two SATA connectors on the mobo are labeled "SATA_RAID1" and "SATA_RAID2". Does this mean that they *have* to be installed in a RAID config (hence the 1 and 2 labeled on the connectors).

I've tried the install disk that came with the HD's but they're useless. They don't even list the SATA drive on their list. I've gone into the BIOS page and there's no "Auto install" option that I was able to see.

The last thing I did was go into the RAID CONFIG PAGE and looked around there a bit, but didn't do anything out of fear that I'll permanently screw up my system.

Can anyone help?

Thanks!
-socalcanuck