Adding RAID 0 after Vista's running?

[mhe]

Hi,

I just installed a new Asus P5K motherboard - it has both Intel and JMicron SATA RAID controllers.

I started with a single SATA disk on which I installed Vista Business - no problem, it's running fine.

Now I want to add a pair of disks, run at RAID 0, to store data.

I installed them, enabled RAID on the Intel controller in the BIOS, created a RAID 0 pair in the controller BIOS, all without a problem.

The problem is that when Vista starts it hangs at "crcdisk.sys" then reboots.

Does anyone know how to install the Windows Vista RAID drivers once a system's up an running ? I'd really hope to not have to do a full re-install - there must be a way to add the drivers in a functioning system (or not)?

Thanks!

[AlanHo]

The following forum threads indicate you are not alone

I don't know whether they help or not - but I am left to wonder why you want to set up Raid 0 in the first place. Is there really much advantage over separate drives with a good back up strategy using Acronis or equivalent...?

Click here.......

And here....

Another Google hit

[mhe]

The following forum threads indicate you are not alone

I don't know whether they help or not - but I am left to wonder why you want to set up Raid 0 in the first place. Is there really much advantage over separate drives with a good back up strategy using Acronis or equivalent...?

Click here.......

And here....

Another Google hit

Hi,

Thanks for the links - none look quite the same - the big difference is I'm not looking to boot off the RAID set, just have it as a data drive. Also, I mistyped in my first post - I'm trying to create a RAID 1 set (mirroring) to increase reliability from a single hard drive failure on my data disk...

Thanks!

[AlanHo]

I suspected that Raid 1 was your target - which was why I referred to having a proper backup as being a more reliable method of data security.

RAID Level 1's greatest asset is also it's greatest liability. In the event that you screw up something like your Operating System (been there, done that), it's likely that the second raid disc is also screwed up. You also have additional wear on second drive - If only weekly backups are performed, the second drive would see only occassional use, but RAID 1 would have the second drive used just as often as the main drive.

Slower write times - During a write, both hard disks are used and performance may be slightly worse than it would be for a single drive.

Less storage space - For example, with two 250 GB drives, the total usable storage space is 250 GB and not 500 GB.

If you corrupt your system with a bad driver install or get a virus hit - RAID Level 1, will corrupt the second drive as well as the main drive.

I run a programme called Second Copy - set to back up all changed files each time the computer is shut down onto an external USB drive. I also take an Acronis backup of my C: drive every week. In my opinion, this is a more secure method than a Raid 1 array.

[mhe]

I suspected that Raid 1 was your target - which was why I referred to having a proper backup as being a more reliable method of data security.

RAID Level 1's greatest asset is also it's greatest liability. In the event that you screw up something like your Operating System (been there, done that), it's likely that the second raid disc is also screwed up. You also have additional wear on second drive - If only weekly backups are performed, the second drive would see only occassional use, but RAID 1 would have the second drive used just as often as the main drive.

Slower write times - During a write, both hard disks are used and performance may be slightly worse than it would be for a single drive.

Less storage space - For example, with two 250 GB drives, the total usable storage space is 250 GB and not 500 GB.

If you corrupt your system with a bad driver install or get a virus hit - RAID Level 1, will corrupt the second drive as well as the main drive.

I run a programme called Second Copy - set to back up all changed files each time the computer is shut down onto an external USB drive. I also take an Acronis backup of my C: drive every week. In my opinion, this is a more secure method than a Raid 1 array.

You're probably right about the ulitmate value of RAID 1. As it turns out I threw in the towel and reinstalled on the RAID 1 array as the boot drive - that works fine, and I have the original boot drive, not in RAID mode, that I'll do backups to. Nothing like "a belt & suspenders"!

Thanks,

- Michael