P965 Platinum - Windows XP in RAID 5

Ok so this is the situation...

I've decided to revert from Vista back to Windows XP. I had successfully (after some considerable hassle) installed Vista on 3x 320GB SATA HDD's in RAID 5. I'm now trying to overwrite this installation with Windows XP.

I've downloaded the ICH8R drivers from the MSI website (and also later attempted using the ones on the CD that came with the M/B).

I boot the computer using the Windows XP install CD. I press F6 to install 3rd party RAID drivers. Using a USB floppy drive I insert a disk containing the ICH8R drivers, and press ENTER to continue. The blue installation screen says "Please wait..." at the bottom, and briefly I can here the computer reading the floppy. However this only lasts maybe 5 seconds, before the computer goes silent with just the "Please wait..." message on the screen. I've waited upwards of 20 minutes for change with nothing.

I've tried many things including an internal floppy drive (note that I'm unsure whether this drive is functioning or not). I've tweaked BIOS settings back and forth but the closest I get to a successful install is the problem I've explained above. I've tried other floppy disks, the ICH7R drivers and so on and so forth, and don't seem to be getting anywhere.

Has anyone come across this before? Or do you have any suggestions?