RAID 1 Questions (accidently unconfigured)

[Krippy]

Right. Well, I was looking around in BIOS just recently and changed a few settings, nothing major. I changed them all back, so it wasn't really a big deal. If I would have left it at that, I wouldn't be posting this. But, instead, I had to be extra careful and restore the default settings. After doing that, I boot up my computer and realize I know have two drives in "My Computer". Strange. I have an encrypted drive that I mount every so often, but this one has the exact same size and whatnot.

Ah, so "restore defaults" means just what it says. Factory defaults. So, by restoring the defaults I got rid of the original RAID 1 set up that was configured when I got the computer. I have two questions.

1. Is it possible to set this back up without losing data?

[strike]2. Is it possible to set up RAID 0 without losing data?

I would actually prefer setting up RAID 0 if at all possible, as RAID-1 is really just a waste of space for me. I back up my important documents regularly, so HDD failure really isn't a concern of mine. Any help, advice, etc. on my newbie mistake would be deeply appreciated.[/strike]

P.S. Sorry if unconfigured isn't a word. :lol:

EDIT: I just read the FAQ and I see that I cannot set up the RAID 0 configuration without losing my data. In that case, I guess I just need information on how to reconfigure the RAID 1 set up without any data loss.

 

[chookman]

If you change the BIOS setting back to raid the array should come back no worries as long as you changed nothing... If you have change something or something goes wrong you can always boot without RAID.... format one disk back with no partition... Change bios setting back to RAID then rebuild the array off the drive with the data still on it

 

[Krippy]

Changed nothing as in I haven't written anything else to my C:\ drive, or made any major configuration changes..?

Thanks for the quick response.

 

[DallasDave]

I did pretty much the same thing. Built new system (Foxconn P35A-S with Intel ICH9R) and installed Vista 64 OEM to RAID 1 partition. This went smoothly, but the computer wouldn't boot reliably, often taking 1-2 CTRL-ALT-DEL clicks until Vista would come up. So, I updated the BIOS in hope it would solve the problem. It appeared to, though this voided my Windows activation (don't get me started on this topic) and required a phone call to get reactivated.

I assumed the activation was voided with the BIOS update, but now notice two disk drives, C:\ and E:\, instead of one. (Perhaps seeing two new disks instead of the RAID controller is what voided the activaton instead of the BIOS update itself?) I've used the computer for about a week since, installing stuff to C:\ with RAID turned off. I should have thought to re-enable RAID once the new BIOS was loaded, but forgot to do it.

So now I'm planning to enable RAID in BIOS, go to the Intel Matrix Storage option ROM menu, remove the disk associated with E:\ (option #3), and then try to add it again. This is assuming the computer will boot once the drive is removed from the RAID partition, right now when RAID is enabled in BIOS the MS ROM menu says the RAID partition is "Normal" but it won't boot, saying the OS needs to be repaired, reinstalled, or whatever. Is removing the disk in this manner similar to having a disk failure, where I can simply add it back later and repair the RAID partition? Or, since I've changed both disks without using the RAID controller is there any hope of getting RAID back lost short of wiping everything clean and starting over?

Krippy, were you able to get yours working again? If I have to start over, does anyone know how much Microsoft will hassle me when I call a second time? They weren't too bad the first time, but I hear they're a bit more difficult if you buy the OEM version. You'd think they expect some of this in the first month with a new system...

Thanks for any help in advance.