RAID 1, Dual-Boot with Vista & XP

Hi All,

I recently purchased a Vista x64 system (plan to upgrade to Windows 7, just waiting on the disk!) with two 1TB drives configured in a RAID 1. The RAID controller runs through the mb/bios using Intel Matrix Storage Manager. I partitioned the drive into four sections that I plan to use as follows; (c Vista --> Windows 7, (d XP, (e Vista (optional), (f files (docs, pics, music, games, etc.)

I have two questions related to the RAID 1 and upgrades/OS installs.

1) The Intel Matrix Storage Manager (RAID) loads pre-OS. That being the case, do I need to do anything before I install XP? I know about the F6 option, and I downloaded the necessary drivers, but do I need to use them if the RAID loads before the OS? I'm concerned that I'll screw something up, or some conflict will arise, if I have to re-configure the RAID system for XP.

2) Related to #1 but for Windows 7 upgrade. Has anyone had luck upgrading to Windows 7 and maintaining their existing RAID setup?

Many thanks in advance!

Tom