RAID 5 on a new Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5 w Vista 64-bit

Snudaddy

Distinguished
Aug 22, 2011
1
0
18,510
I have a new computer I've built and I can't seem to get the RAID array set up in a way that allows the OS to install. I keep getting either a message saying that a CD/DVD drive needs drivers, and sometimes when I can get far enough to run the install I get a Windows could not install error. I have loaded the RAID drivers and have made the changes in BIOS.

Specs:
Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5
AMD AM3 Phenom II X4 945
3 x 2 TB Western Digital WD20EARS HDD's
Samsung SH-B123L/RSBP Blu-ray player
Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit

My BIOS settings have been changed to (OnChip SATA type) has been changed to RAID. The drives have been assigned to the array and all show as 1 array with 4 TB of storage. I have spent the past two days tweaking with BIOS settings and failed Vista installs, any help would be appreciated.
 

leandrodafontoura

Distinguished
Sep 26, 2006
898
0
19,060
You need to load the drivers while installing windows, by pressing f6 if Im not mistaken. The drives must be on a Cd or usb drive. I assume you no longer have floppy.

If all falis, after all, its a windows install, get a SSD and install vista on it, use the RAID for everything else. You can get a 64GB SSD for 64 dollars at newegg. You dont need drivers to install vista on a SSD

And BTW, dont go with RAID 5, use RAID 0 and have a backup plan. By using RAID 5, if you drive fails, you will need to rebuild the arrey with a new drive before you can acess your data. In the mean time, belive me, 4TB of information will take forever to be rebuilt and in the meand time another drive may fail, causing you to lose everything. a external backup solutuion gives you instant acess to your files right after a crash

 

casualbuilder

Distinguished
Aug 8, 2011
1,187
0
19,360
What is your WEI score with the Raid HDD's? did it go up? I'm currently at a 5.9 WEI (due to my HDD) and was wondering if i ran 2 or 3 of them, my WEI would go up. Also, since the type of Raid was brought up, what is the best RAID type to use? RAID 0?