I want to setup a machine that has two separate drives... I want RH 9 on drive C and Win XP on drive D.

From a clean format which should I install first to make my life easier...

I am severely Linux Challenged so go easy on me please

Do the windows xp install first, it will probably install on the first hard drive so set the drive you want it on as the first one. Then when you do the redhat install it should detect the xp install and let you do a duel boot.

is it 2 hard drives, or 2 partitions?

What I did just recently was format the D partition, use it for RH9, and then just dual boot with Grub - worked great. However, if the D partition is after the first 1024 cylinders (I think 500 mbs) check to make sure that your mother board is able to read booting info after the first 1024 cyclinders of your hard drive. Also, if you format the D partition in the RH9 setup you will have to do a manual partition (which is easier than you think) because the auto partitioner will look for free space on your hard drive and not see any because of the D partition.
**NOTE**: if it is 2 hard drives, ignore what i said

Thanks guys for the info yes thebear it is two seperate physical drives