Raid Setup Help

[i2omani]

Howdy,
I have never setup a RAID before tbh. now i have a computer that is setup with two 250 GB SATA on XP pro. How do i set up ? please forgive my ignorance!
i want to do repair install but i can't find my OEM xp pro , on the other hand i do have Dell xp pro CD and never used on a none Dell before?

Your prompt response will be highly appreciated

 

[Blues]

Is it already a RAID? Is the system broken in anyway?

 

[i2omani]

Yes and yes. i was able to do a repair install on it and the system is back up, but still i would really love to learn on how to setup RAID

 

[nonchalant]

Commonly RAID is configured in the BIOS. You may get a prompt to hit F10 once you exit the BIOS where you can select the RAID type setup you want.

If your installing XP you may need to install RAID drivers during setup. You will see a prompt (you press F6 or F6 from memory) at which point the drivers can be installed.

On Vista its a synch. Set RAID in the BIOS, hit F10 when you see the prompt to select the RAID type you want, & Vista does the rest.

 

[i2omani]

RAID for none RAID

Well like i said before i am really ID10T when it comes to RAID...

OK here is what i did, i repair installed the machine but didn't choose the RAID option

In Disk manaegment i can see that both drives are in "Basic" status. from what i understood is i can select both drive and choose Dynamic...but it is warrning me that i will not be able to access the OS on the drives.. please help me as this is really bugging me.

P.s: so my question, how can i turn a none RAID drive to RAID drive without loosing the Data is that possible?

Thank you in advance

 

[Blues]

You would have to clone the drive and build the RAID then dump the clone image back onto the new RAID problem is you might lack the RAID drivers and thus it wouldn't install. Your best bet might be to do a back up of files wipe the drives setup the RAID then reinstall windows.

 

[nonchalant]

P.s: so my question, how can i turn a none RAID drive to RAID drive without loosing the Data is that possible?

Not possible (based on my experience). Whenever Ive recreated the array on my PC I always get a prompt 'do you want to clear disk data' to which Ive always replied 'yes', so I dont know what would happen if I said 'no' but from what Ive read a new RAID array cant be created w/o loss of data.

 

[Blues]

Not possible (based on my experience). Whenever Ive recreated the array on my PC I always get a prompt 'do you want to clear disk data' to which Ive always replied 'yes', so I dont know what would happen if I said 'no' but from what Ive read a new RAID array cant be created w/o loss of data.

That is why you would image the drive first to restore the image to the new array. I just have never done a transfer to a RAID so I am lost at that point.

 

[Paul]

You cannot create a raid on a system that has an os on it already thats non raid without the hdd being wiped clean, you first have to create the raid array in the bios then install xp and install third party raid driver by pressing f6 key thats the only way to go, just backup your data then go ahead and install

 

[NYJimbo]

You cannot create a raid on a system that has an os on it already thats non raid without the hdd being wiped clean, you first have to create the raid array in the bios then install xp and install third party raid driver by pressing f6 key thats the only way to go, just backup your data then go ahead and install

I think he resolved it by now, that last message is one year old.