RAID 0 problem

Hi guys,

Im having some major probs here. after all sorts of crap i won't get into i finally decided i needed a fresh install of windows XP home - so i have inserted my 'recovery' CD on startup and tried a fresh install.

I have 2x 200GB Western Digital HDDs which were set up in RAID (i think its RAID 0 where they act as 1x 400gb HDD).

I selected to install windows and it showed two HDDs with one partition of approx 400GB - great. so i tried the fresh install here. it reformatted NTFS - got to 50% after a while then shot up from 50% to 100% in a few secs. It then said it cannot install XP (cant remember the reason  :blink: ) .

Sooo, I then deleted the partition and made a new one which is now around 200gb on on HDD. I am unsure how to get the partition back to around 400GB which is using both the HDDs in RAID. The 200GB partition gets to 100% NTFS format as expected, then 'installs' XP - then it restarts its self as expected but when it gets to the XP loading screen it always gives a BSOD saying 'UNMOUNTABLE BOOT VOLUME'.

On startup it says the RAID 'nvidia stripe' (i think) is healthy.

Basically my now dilema is i just want to get windows working in any way - it would be ideal for it to work with the HHDs as 400GB RAID again but if it comes to it i could settle for 2x 200GBs.

It is possible that the HDDs (or one of them) are 'damaged' (or not healthy) but previous Checkdisk scans showed no probs.

Is there any way to get XP booting again with these HDDs as they are? Any advice would be much appreciated.

sounds like you need to rebuild the RAID array. simply set it back up, then reinstall windows.

ok thanks. How do i go about doing that? i have had no experience with RAID before so your advice is appreciated.

Normally, with hardware RAID, when the computer first starts up, the RAID controller initialization will show up.  Often it'll tell you to press some key to get into its utility (Delete, F1, F2, etc.).  Do that. 

You'll then have options to rebuild the RAID array.

Normally, with hardware RAID, when the computer first starts up, the RAID controller initialization will show up.  Often it'll tell you to press some key to get into its utility (Delete, F1, F2, etc.).  Do that. 

You'll then have options to rebuild the RAID array.

beat me to it.

I have rebuilt the RAID array as suggested (it was F10 to push    ) and when i come to install windows it tells me that there are two hard drives. is this correct - should it not just see one as it is in RAID 0? maybe i need to install a 'third party RAID driver' when it asks me to push F6 at the beginning of windows installation process?

[Moderator]

Yes...you need to install the driver again.

Hi guys,

Here is the latest: I manages to get the RAID drivers from the motherboard CD to a floppy and when this was inserted when F6 was pushed (in windows install startup) i loaded 2 drivers and then it finally did see the RAID array as one 400GB HDD.

So i installed windows onto it - it copied the files accross and then it restarted and went into the setup where you name your computer and define time zones etc (i had not got to this point previously) - this completed as expected and then it restarted itself (without warning which i am unsure if it is meant to?)

Now when it boots up it gets to the XP loading screen and freezes with a BSOD saying in short:

disable any anti-virus disk defrag or backup utilities. Check HDD configuration and check for driver updates; run CHKDSK /F for hardware corruption. Techincal info: STOP (xxxxx...)

interestingly CHKDSK /F doesnt seem to exist or XP home doesnt use it?

How to Install Windows XP on a RAID Configuration

Yeah iv done everything on that guide but i still get the BSOD described above.

Any ideas?

Boot into BIOS and check to see if you are using defaults...or if it's scanning memory for viruses at boot.  Disable if it is...and try again.

pretty sure it aint scanning memory, BIOS is at default. Seems iv tried everything!

[Moderator]

You stated you re-sized one drive to get this install going...did you format the 2nd drive also ? ?
I believe the sizes need to match exactly to re-build a successful array...

Hmm no i didnt resize a drive.... where did i say that? iv been fiddling with partitions but not the size of the drive

[Moderator]

Sooo, I then deleted the partition and made a new one which is now around 200gb on on HDD. I am unsure how to get the partition back to around 400GB