RAID 0 setup P5K Deluxe

Youll have issues...

First youd need to image the drive and store elsewhere.

Wipe the original drive and create the RAID array.

Then send the image back to the Array you will need RAID drivers for this (depending on what software you use for imaging).

Although this may work it may not as Vista will more than likley not enjoy the fact that it has been installed on a single drive and is now trying to boot from a RAID-array you could end up with BSOD or load errors.

Another way would be to backup your user hive (profile) and wipe the machine and start from scratch. Although this will kill alot of settings and programs it wont be as bad as starting from complete scratch.

I’ve read an article not too long ago revealing that our friendly Microsoft people, over and above a dubious job in creating and delivering the next generation Vista OS, have also retrofitted their OEM Windows licenses with a new caveat for upgrading users.

Whereas before, you were only limited to however many times you could be bothered to call their activation line for a new authorization code, now, to stay within the bounds of their "license" -- if you can call it that at all -- you either have to scale down how much you're upgrading to a very small quantity or buy another copy of Windows.

Their reasoning for this is that if you swap out your motherboard, for instance, and thus the CPU, you're effectively making a brand new computer and licenses are non-transferable (if you didn't know). The only claim for redemption is to say (and maybe prove) that your old system has died a physical death and the hardware change causing reactivation is necessary and not just a "because you want to" upgrade.

The article then goes on to say that OEM partners (the people building computers with Windows preinstalled — Dell etc.) that they are the ones that have to enforce this when upgrades (to an extent that MS figure they can claim is a new computer) are done. I guess this means anyone that is lucky enough to have a Dell/HP/whatever and dares to get it upgraded rather than buying a new PC, should expect to pay for the upgrade + a copy of windows.

In a Microsoft representative’s own words: “Microsoft needed to have one base component left standing that would still define that original PC. Since the motherboard contains the CPU and is the heart and soul of the PC, when the motherboard is replaced (for reasons other than defect) a new PC is essentially created.”

This sounds like a complete load of rubbish to me. Re-licensing something that a customer might have bought under a different license agreement sounds highly dodgy and I'm sure that friendly MS would have problems upholding this in court.

Anyway, normal retail licenses (which, coincidentally, cost two to three times the price of OEM) are not affected in this switch. Neither are bulk licenses, unless they're tied to hardware through OEM licensing.