Hey, noobie here, If I want to configure a RAID set by adding a second hard drive...can I do it my first copying the existing drive and THEN change to striping to maximize speed? My Sys: mobo: Asus a7nx8-e Cpu: Athlon xp 2800 memory: 1 gb. ocz Hard Drive: Seagate ATA 120 GB Video: Geforce 6800 gt
NOPE, definately not! (not with the equipment you have specced, unless you have a high-end 3Ware or Adaptec controller which you have not mentioned, they allow that). In general, the setting up of a stripe (Raid 0) array on consumer-level IDE Raid controllers WILL DESTROY any files on BOTH drives of the array. If the stripe is going to be a data array (non-booting) then the procedure is: 1 - back up the files to another disk (or CD/DVD etc) 2 - create the array 3 - partition & format to your personal requirements 4 - restore the backed up files If the stripe is going to be a bootable array, then 1 of 2 situations apply: a) Windows was installed with the driver supplied by using the F6 prompt b) Windows was NOT installed with the driver supplied by using the F6 prompt If situation a), then the procedure is: 1 - image the drive using Ghost or a similar program 2 - create the array 3 - partition & format to your personal requirements 4 - restore the image If situation b), then the procedure is: 1 - back up the files to another disk (or CD/DVD etc): only data files are relevant 2 - create the array 3 - partition & format to your personal requirements 4 - Install Windows, make sure you install the driver using the F6 function (otherwise the windows setup will not find the drive array) 5 - Install programs/applications as desired 6 - Copy backed up files to relevant place on new drive (array). Reasonable simple to do (time consuming). Not plug-and-play simple, but doable. Just remember, creating the array WILL destroy data on BOTH drives. Plan the work out on paper first, otherwise you run the risk of losing data/files. Have Fun...
Yikes! mmmmm....relatively new system, i may be able to start from scratch. But I've already got about 20 GB. on the first 120 gig drive. But Do-able.... Thank you so much for the reply! :stoke:
