Windows RAID

[TheTwister]

Hi there,

Unfortunately, my windows hard drive has stopped working so I am going to add a new ssd with Windows on it..... However I have 2 HDDs mirror RAID using the Windows setup within the PC, is it easy to reconfigure everything without the RAID drives being formatted with the new windows install?

[TheTwister]

Ok i have installed the new OS onto the new ssd when into disk management and  both of the mirror hard drives said Disk Management Foreign.

if i right click it says Import Foreign Disks or convert to Basic disk. Which one should i click to keep the data on there?

[DaveLembke]

First question is.... do you have a backup of the data on these drives elsewhere before moving forward?

I have brought RAID sets forward before and its not always a 100% guarantee that everything works. Converting to Basic would wipe out your data last I knew, and if Importing Foreign goes wrong it can foul up the data on those drives.

The best migration would be to have your data saved elsewhere than this drive pair, then build up the RAID fresh wiping them clean and having a fresh RAID set that was built on the same system that is using it with the same OS build etc. Then copy your important data back to the RAID drive pair and then you wont lose data.

If you dont have an external hard drive and need to move forward and willing to accept that you could foul up and lose your data then, Importing Foreign is the way to go. But I'd really get the data off those drives onto another drive thats not involved with the RAID first. This might require you to boot the system off of Linux such as MINT or Ubuntu off a Live Linux environment using a DVD-R or bootable USB stick and connect an external hard drive and then copy the entire contents of the drives to that. With a mirror you should have 2 drives that are exact for data so only 1 drive is needed to get your data to the external and the other can set off to the side. Definitely check to make sure all data gets copied to external though before wiping the drives clean or bringing them forward as a Import Foreign if able to do so.

*Note: If your using encrypted drives, the Linux option wouldnt work unless you had supporting software to match the encryption to decrypt them.

[VintronNZ]

Hi

Do you know how the raid disks were originally set-up. Were they hardware raid (which is usually set up before windows starts).
Or software which requires Windows to have the raid support installed normally from the motherboard CD. 

If you are not sure you can use Reclaimme Raid recovery free from here  http://www.freeraidrecovery.com/
This will run from your current windows drive Mount the 2 Raid drives and tell you how they are set up.

I.E Raid 0 / software and will scan the drives and allow you to copy the contents to another drive.

If you want windows to see the drives, post the above information and the motherboard details and it should be easy to set the drives back up.

Without the above information using Disk manager is likely to convert the raid to a single volume and loose all your data.