Correct installation of software on a new system

[Boze]

So like the summary says, I'm building a new PC and I want to make sure I avoid any unnecessary software headaches. Due to the almost non-existant availability of 6800GT and Ultra PCI-e cards, I had to purchase a 6600 PCI-e card until availability improves (which should be sometime mid-February I hear, from retailers and e-tailers).

My system components break down like so:
AMD Athlon 64 3500+
Kingston HyperX Memory, 2GB (4x512MB, 2-3-3-6)
ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe
Western Digital 74 GB Raptor x2 (Intend to RAID 0)
ASUS EN6600 256 TD PCI-e video card
NEC ND-3520A DVD+-RW optical drive

There are more little knick-knacks, like all the crap on the motherboard, a Sony floppy disk, etc., but these are the items that might require a little more software configuration than a simple 3.5" floppy.

I was curious about the correct order of installations, if you will, such as OS first (obviously), then what? Do I install the motherboard drivers next, or do I install the video card drivers next, and then install all other drivers for hardware, and lastly programs; or what? What is the recommended installation order...?

I also want to make sure that once the availability of BFG 6800 Ultra OC PCI-e's is more of a reality and less of a myth, that I will be able to remove the ASUS card and do a good, clean install, since I'm ordering two of them and I intend to SLI them together.

Thanks for your time guys (and gals), and if this is answered in another thread, then please just provide me a link to it or some search keywords if you would, I couldn't really find any exhaustive information on this...

 

[BlueWeasel]

Basically, I install in this general order:

- motherboard drivers
- video card drivers
- Windows Update (all necessary updates)
- remaining hardware drivers
- applications (with antivirus and spyware being first)

 

[MrChad]

First off, make sure that you slipstream SP2 on your XP setup disc. If not, make sure you have a copy of SP2 ready on CD to install BEFORE you connect your system to the Internet.

mechBgon's guide is an excellent resource for system building. BlueWeasel's order is a good one, assuming that SP2 is the first step.