XP x64 RAID set up - Intel matrix

I have ASUS Maximus Extreme MOBO and the bundled RAID drivers from the ASUS CD do not work. I am attempting to use XPx64 as the MOBO manual indicated that if i want to get gigabit LAN from the board i need to use 64 bit OS.
I downloaded the Jmicron drivers, created a floppy and when i attempt to install them (after hitting F6) it works - but it appears that the Jmicron drivers are just for external RAID HDD's -that's not what i want. It appears i am supposed to use Intel Matrix Raid drivers. I downloaded the x64 Matrix drivers from Intel's website and after hitting F6 and inserting the floppy it get a message that the file 'txtsetup.oem' could not be found.
i'm all out of drivers to try...
I've switched the settings in bios from RAID to IDE and tried all the combinations but none of them work. I am not familiar with AHCI, so i have not tried that with my x64 driver i downloaded nor with the bundled drivers (which appear to be Intel ICH9r driver).
Any thoughts on what i should do next??
I'm not sure if my chipsets have anything to do with this whole mess but if it helps the board has x38/ich9r.
I could probably give more details but i'll let that go for now...
Is there another driver i could try?
thanks for your help