How to break a raid and replace one drive

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Brad Magnus

Brad Magnus

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Hi, I have a MSI GT60. It's a couple years old now, and I'd like to break the raid set up drives and replace the one HDD with an SSD while of course keeping the one drive. I'm also thinking I'm just gonna wipe the computer clean and start with a fresh install of Windows 8. (currently on win7). Of course I know I need to download Win8 and have that on a bootable thumbdrive. I think I can figure that part out.

But what I'm not sure of is how to break the raid configuration and install the SSD?
 
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Eximo

Eximo

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Depends on the type of raid...

If it is striped, RAID 0, you won't be able to do anything. If it is mirrored, RAID 1, you should be able to take out a drive. It will be unlikely you will be able to stick the SSD in and put it back in the array via hardware. Software(Windows) maybe.

You wouldn't want to necessarily RAID an SSD and a HDD anyway, in either configuration.

Were I you I would either start over with Windows 8 like you mentioned. Or clone the existing array to another external drive. Then use the cloned image and put it on the SSD (Assuming there is enough space), then set up the HDD as a storage drive unassociated with the SSD.
 
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Brad Magnus

Brad Magnus

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It's 1 TB (500gb*2 RAID 0) 7200rpm. I just got in today a 240gb SSD. I will remove one HDD opting for the SSD.

I'm not planning on using any RAID configuration between the 2 new drives.
 
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Brad Magnus

Brad Magnus

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So I don't have to change any BIOS or other settings? I could just pull the one HDD and replace it with the SSD and boot windows 8?

 
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Eximo

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If you are talking about the last paragraph only, not quite. You would need to leave the array in place, make sure the total data is under the size of the SSD, then clone the drive from the array to the SSD. Then remove the array, (then disable RAID in BIOS and switch the computer to AHCI (RAID implies AHCI so you could leave it that way and just not build an array) and replace it with the SSD. After you make sure the system boots and works properly you would then format one, or both, of the hard drives and install one as your storage drive.
 
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Eximo

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Not sure from your questions if you understand what RAID 0 means, those two hard drives are each acting as half of a single faster larger drive. Half the data is on each drive. Without the other half they won't work. You can't just "break it" and add the SSD, that would effectively wipe the whole computer.
 
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Brad Magnus

Brad Magnus

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Yes, I do understand that is what RAID 0 means. But I'm not concerned with the computer data really. I was planning on starting fresh. I don't think I have any viruses, but was going to get rid of some of the bloat in the process as well. The SSD is smaller than the size of the RAID. But I can clean up and remove files and everything to get it shrunk down.

So to get back to the question then, if I just pull a drive and ruin the RAID, will I from the BIOS be able to start from scratch?
 
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USAFRet

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Remove all other drives
Connect the SSD
Boot from your install media, and install
Connect other drives after it is all rebuilt, and wipe everything on them.
Use as needed.
 
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Brad Magnus

Brad Magnus

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Thank you! That makes sense! On my desktop machine (has a small 40gb ssd and 2tb drives) it has some software that moves the most used data to the SSD. Like OS and most launched programs. Do you know of a solution like that?
 
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USAFRet

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That is using the small SSD for a cache drive for the larger HDD.
Marginally useful, and only with very small SSD's (under 64GB).
 
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Brad Magnus

Brad Magnus

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So most people just manually choose between drive locations? I'll have a C: and a E: drives? (or similar)
 
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USAFRet

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Yes.
The C drive for OS and applications. This greatly depends on what size your OS drive is. Minimum 120GB SSD.
Other stuff....put it where speed does not matter.

For instance...music. Your 30GB music library does not run 'faster' being on the SSD. The controlling software client (iTunes, Songbird, Plex, whatever) lives on the SSD. The bulk of music lives elsewhere. Mine lives on a whole other PC on the house LAN. Zero performance impact.

My 1.5TB movie library also lives elsewhere. I'm not about to buy sufficient SSD space to house that much movie, because it does not matter. Movies do not (nor should) run any faster....:)
All that lives on the house server on the other side of the room, accessed via a shared folder and a mapped drive letter, and TeamViewer.
 
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