[256MB PC2700 or 512MB PC2100?]

So yes, if the memory would be fully compatible (I have no idea about mixing different speeds when it comes to memory), throw it in there

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You can mix and match; it'll just run both sticks at the slower speed.

[300gb hdd, recognized as 131 in setup]

Make sure that the XP disc has at least SP1a slipstreamed onto it; prior to that, Windows doesn't support 48bit LBA, so it can't address the entire drive.

[64-bit?]

64 bit procs can mess with bigger chuncks of data at a time, which certainly gives a perfomance boost, but only with a 64 bit OS and applications. You can still run 32 bit OSes and apps, though.

64 bit won't really be much of a benefit for a while longer anyways, so if you want Intel, take your pick, anything will do. But if you're in it for gaming and are willing to give AMD a shot, Athlon64 is an excellent choice.

[Your Next PC]

Just built my "next" PC...

Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe Mobo

AMD Athlon 64 3500+

Kingston Dual Channel DDR400 1024MB

Two Maxtor 250GB HDs in RAID 0

16x Dual layer DVD burner

SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS Gamer Edition

Two evga GeForce 6800 GTs

Hauppauge WinTV PVR250

And yes, a floppy drive.

[$oem$ folder not copied]

I'll assume you know the proper structure of the $oem$ folders (ie, the $1 folder representing the drive you're installing Windows to, etc), and point my comments elsewhere...

I've never had to do it, but try putting NTUpgrade=No under [unattended]. NTUpgrade and OEMPreinstall are mutually exclusive, so that may do the trick...

[Windows 98 Service Pack 1]

There was a Win98SP1. Its not available anymore, but that's okay, because it only included a few things (Y2K fixes, IE4, etc) that are either available seperately, or are outdated.

[WMP10 included in Win2K3 SP1 ...]

What, a new version of a Microsoft product suddenly not working with a competitor's? That's never happened before...

[Bootable External HDD?]

Most systems nowadays support booting from USB, so YES, you can buy a bootable removable HDD. My suggestion, however, is to buy an internal HDD and an external enclosure for it; its usually MUCH cheaper.

PS: Whether, not weather.

[Nvidia SLI Unattended]

I believe I may have found what you're looking for...

Under HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Video, there should be a few keys, two of which representing your two video cards. From there, there should be a "0000" key, which has a "MB_Enable" key. If you set that to "01 00 00 00", it should enable SLI. I'm not sure if you're going to be able to pre-determine the parent key's names, though...

[Windows Restarted And Left An Error Message]

Si3114r5 is a mass storage driver (SATA, RAID, SCSI, etc), and NTLDR is actually part of the Windows NT family operating systems (including XP). The combo of the mass storage error and the repair disk probably screwed something up; unfortuneatly, you may have to reinstall the OS; the hardware's probably fine.

[Pre-Installed Program Files?]

Theoretically, if you could find all the registry keys the installer makes and apply them to the new registry, this might work. But you'd probably be better off sticking with running the installer.

But I DO know that this method would work for WinZip, at least.