Thanks for the suggestions, I'll try those out.

The machine is entirely brand new. I had initially installed XP64, but was unsatisfied and installed XP instead. I don't think that should have screwed things up too badly, but maybe it did...

But first I'll try that fast boot option. That's a good troubleshooter.

By the way, does anyone else here have a Raptor drive? I want to know if it's supposed to be this noisy... When it's seeking for info it seems just a little too loud.