Make sure you have the drivers for any modems/network cards that are in the machine. They are a bit difficult to download if the device doesn't have the driver installed.
Regarding the HD - no drivers should be required.
Memory - get more - 256 at a min. - 512 is better.
About the OS - it is my preference to run Windows 2000 Professional but any Microsoft OS has problems.
One other thing - make sure you have the other software components to load on the machine before you start. Its really a pain to need to have to go back and reformat/reload just because you didn't have the anti-virus or firewall product when you first completed the install.
good luck
Let's hope they're not ATA-133's or above.