Setting up a Computer to install Windows XP Professional.

Pedro -

I'll assume each of these is an IDE device, meaning each has a wide connector versus a narrow SATA connector commonly found on newer hard drives.

Your motherboard should have two IDE channels, labeled IDE 1 and IDE 2, Primary IDE and Secondary IDE, or something similar. Each IDE channel can support two devices.

For best performance between the drives, you will want to have the Hard Drive connected as Master(Drive 0) on the Primary IDE channel; The CDROM should be connected as Slave(Drive 1) on the Primary IDE channel. Connect the DVDROM as Master(Drive 0) on the Secondary IDE channel, and the ZIP Drive as Slave on the Secondary IDE channel.

When connecting the drives, make sure you set the jumpers correctly; Both the Hard Drive and the DVDROM should have their jumpers set to Master, the CDROM and Zip drives should have their jumpers set to Slave. An alternative is to set the jumpers for every drive to Cable Select(CS), allowing the physical connection of each drive to determine whether its a Master or Slave device.

*Note*
If your Hard Drive is a SATA device, connect it to the '0' or '1' SATA connector on the motherboard. Have the DVDROM set up by itsself as Master on the primary IDE channel, the CDROM as Master on the Secondary IDE channel, and the ZIP as Slave on the Secondary IDE channel.

Hope this helps!
-thinstatic