[Droid Eris Android Development] Hairston:
OK, here goes....

PLEASE NOTE: This method is slightly different from DC_Striker's. This may or may not work for you. It did for me. Please don't flame me if it doesn't.

First things first:

Windows XP SP3 with Android SDK Drivers

Walmart 2GB PNY SD Microcard formatted with FAT32 and 512bytes allocation size

Lots of coffee and lots of patience

While in normal mode I:

1) Turned on debugging

2) Confirmed that "Android Composite ADB Device" showed in Device manager.

3) Shut the phone down.

Method:

1) Pulled the battery

2) Kept Device Manager open at all times on my computer screen

3) Kept the USB cable pulled in (never unplugged it)

4) Made sure SD card was popped OUT each attempt

5) Booted into HBOOT by holding down <VOL DOWN> and hitting END

6) Hit SEND to go into FASTBOOT USB

7) Looked at Device Manager to confirm "Android Bootloader Interface" showed up.

8) Hit <VOL DOWN> to go back into HBOOT then hit <VOL UP> to go into recovery

9) Watched for the white android skateboard screen

10) Waited a couple of seconds (this varied from try to try) and as soon as the screen went black I started popping the SD card in and out. The amount of times I popped it in and out as well as how many times also varied from try to try, but on my successful attempt I only popped it in and out twice and I did not do it fast.

11) Waited for the /!\ recovery screen to come up then checked Device Manager to see if "Android Composite ADB Device" showed in Device manager.

12) When it did show up I did an "adb devices" from the Android SDK tools folder to confirm it was active. I also noticed "HTC Android Phone USB Device" showed up in Device Manager.

13) If it didn't show up I popped out the SD card and pulled the battery and started the method all over again.

14) When it did show up I continued on with the rest of the instructions from DC_Striker's post on the link to root the Slide.

I DID NOT DO THE LOOP THING, so it's obviously an unneeded step. However, if you use the loop thing you won't have to watch Device Manager like I did.

Some things I'm personally convinced of (not to be taken as fact):

1) Make and model of SD card as well as the allocation size is not a major deciding factor of this race.

2) Not sure if pulling the battery is required. It was just quicker for me to redo the steps

3) Not sure if starting the method with the SD card out made any difference.

4) Not sure if going into FASTBOOT USB before first going into recovery made any difference.

Some Notes:

1) After going through the steps to root device make sure you install a custom recovery before you reboot. It will save you time in the future.

2) Took me well over an hour. I know for some of you that doesn't sound like a lot of time, but I believe I got lucky. I have read about some people dropping 6 or more hours into this project and still come up with nothing.

3) No matter what method you use prepare to be frustrated and pissed off. If you have anger issues, stay clear of this. :)

I really hope this helps someone. I regretted completely jumping on the leak and seriously felt left behind when root was achieved. I know how it feels bro. :(