Problem with boot orders and setting up a raid

[beaver_shots]

I have 2 ssd drives and one mechanical for back up.

Currently I have windows 10 installed on one SSD and nothing on the second. I have cloned the SSD with OS onto the mechanical and I am trying to boot to it and format both SSD drives so I can pool them into a single storage drive with the new windows 10 utility.

I have changed my boot order in the bios to boot from the mechanical drive but windows will not let me delete/format the SSD that I originally installed the OS onto.

I hope that is clear

 

[Darkbreeze]

http://gparted.org/livecd.php

 

[beaver_shots]

http://gparted.org/livecd.php

so I should download this application and give it a shot? Whats it do?

 

[Darkbreeze]

It's a partition manager that allows you to make partition and formatting changes not possible in windows. You create bootable media with it, boot to the Gparted live CD, and manager your partitions the way you want, then reboot, adjust your bios settings how you need them and go about the rest of your life.

 

[beaver_shots]

It's a partition manager that allows you to make partition and formatting changes not possible in windows. You create bootable media with it, boot to the Gparted live CD, and manager your partitions the way you want, then reboot, adjust your bios settings how you need them and go about the rest of your life.

Sounds like the solution to my issue. I mean I guess windows wont let me format the first SSD because it thinks thats the "main drive" or w/e? Its also very hard to tell what drive I am really booting from. I selected the mechanical drive in bios but I cant really see any difference it boot times. Ill download this application and see if I can make use of it. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Darkbreeze]

The problem is likely the fact that the SSD still has the boot partition on it. You may need to reinstall Windows on the drive you intend to USE as the boot drive, with no other drives connected. When there are boot partitions already present from an older or different installation, it can cause issues. Disconnect the other drives and see if you can even boot using your HDD that contains the OS.

 

[beaver_shots]

Ok so I was not able to boot from the HDD. I was also not able to format the whole thing as there where partitions in there for windows that I guess were protected since it was a clone of the original install. I was able to delete them manually using diskpart command in command prompt. So now I am going to try and install windows onto the HHD, boot to it, and then manage the other disks.

I was not able to use the application you suggested... I just could not get it to work for me

 

[Darkbreeze]

Diskpart is just as good. It's a DOS based command line version of the same thing. Gparted is a bootable Linux based distribution that should work on any x86 machine. It may have been a matter of not having the optical drive assigned as the primary boot device. Regardless, since you got everything wiped, installing over with the HDD should handle the matter. Be sure to leave the other drives disconnected when you install to eliminate any potential for partition issues. Then reattach your SSDs and configure them as desired.

When installing Windows 10, I would not bother with creating partitions or formatting. Just let Windows do that. With a wiped drive, simply point the installation to the unallocated space using the "custom" option during the installation and Windows will create the necessary system and OS partitions and perform any formatting.

http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/1950-windows-10-clean-install.html

 

[beaver_shots]

Diskpart is just as good. It's a DOS based command line version of the same thing. Gparted is a bootable Linux based distribution that should work on any x86 machine. It may have been a matter of not having the optical drive assigned as the primary boot device. Regardless, since you got everything wiped, installing over with the HDD should handle the matter. Be sure to leave the other drives disconnected when you install to eliminate any potential for partition issues. Then reattach your SSDs and configure them as desired.

When installing Windows 10, I would not bother with creating partitions or formatting. Just let Windows do that. With a wiped drive, simply point the installation to the unallocated space using the "custom" option during the installation and Windows will create the necessary system and OS partitions and perform any formatting.

http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/1950-windows-10-clean-install.html

I think you are absolutely right and thanks again for the help. I have not done the install just yet but I see no reason why it wont work at this point. I am starting to debate even doing it now haha. I see no real gain in pooling the SSDs other than minor convince. I am toying with the idea of doing an Linux install on the HHD simply to mess around with it as I have never used any distribution of it at all and I am curious. Thinking about mint/cinnamon.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Personally, if I had an SSD and a HDD, there would never be any question that the OS would be on the SSD. It simply makes everything you do faster. Even for gaming it speeds up map and level loading although it doesn't really affect FPS. Every process that needs to access data will benefit.

If you want to RAID those SSDs WITH the OS on them, so much the better, and then use the HDD for storage or for your Linux. Personally, I like Ubuntu and Mint. If you do this, with a dual boot type configuration, be sure to either install Windows first, then your Linux distribution, or install them on separate drives with no other drives connected at the time, and you'll need to designate or unplug/plug in the desired on each subsequent boot. If you install them to be always connected and you install Linux first, windows will throw a tantrum.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WindowsDualBoot

 

[beaver_shots]

Personally, if I had an SSD and a HDD, there would never be any question that the OS would be on the SSD. It simply makes everything you do faster. Even for gaming it speeds up map and level loading although it doesn't really affect FPS. Every process that needs to access data will benefit.

If you want to RAID those SSDs WITH the OS on them, so much the better, and then use the HDD for storage or for your Linux. Personally, I like Ubuntu and Mint. If you do this, with a dual boot type configuration, be sure to either install Windows first, then your Linux distribution, or install them on separate drives with no other drives connected at the time, and you'll need to designate or unplug/plug in the desired on each subsequent boot. If you install them to be always connected and you install Linux first, windows will throw a tantrum.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WindowsDualBoot

yea this was my original plan to raid the ssd drives with windows (cheap 120g drives) on them and have linux/windows on the hhd plus use for storage. I thought I could just clone the drive over to the hhd, boot from it and manage the ssd drives into a raid then clone it back but its been more complicated then that heh. I think I have the understanding now to do that but I have grown tired of this windows boot dance at least for the moment. For now my os stays on one ssd and the other two drives are for storage. Moral of the story for me... windows do what windows do.

 

[Darkbreeze]

True enough. Good luck going forward.