the computer is a home built one. the motherboard is an asus p4c800-e deluxe and the processor is a p4 3.4 ghz. i think i figured it out , i forgot to install the chipset drivers....now that there installed it runs much smoother. the drive letters were fixed by a re-formatt and a re-installed OS. the dvd problem is fixed by the codecs i installed. yes xp dose have its pros and cons but it works satisfactory for me. if it gives me too much crap il install linux or win 2k .