RAID Array Setup - How To Get Into BIOS And Change Settings
Jun 21, 2012
I am getting ready to set up a RAID Array but this is my first time doing anything with RAID. I know how to get into the BIOS and change settings and I know with two hard drives, I should do RAID 1. However, I just have a few questions before I do this. First off, I am an idiot and did not notice that my first hard drive I got when I built the computer has a 32 MB Cache:
Caviar Blue 1TB 7,200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive WD10EALX - OEM
I noticed it only had a 32 MB CACHE when I went to get another one. I then asked for the version with a 64 MB CACHE (WD1002FAEX), paid for it and left. Will these two hard drives work together in RAID if they have different sized caches?
I had one hard drive failed(640gb). I bought replacement and tried to restore image but it failed. Then I wanted to convert to non raid system. I changed both drives(640gb) to non raid and bios change in advance setup. I am getting error when I try to reinstall win 7, "setup was unable to create a new system partition or locate an existing system partition. See the setup log files for more information". I have deleted old partition many times but win 7 setup on this dell xps435 desktop won't install windows.
So i have windows 7 installed on one 120g ssd and i want to take the OS and put it on a raid 0 array using two of the same 120g ssds. Whats the best way i can acconplish this?note, the ssd the os is already on will be one of the ssds used in the array
I would like to get 2 SSDs and put them into a raid array using Windows 7-64bit, but wanted to make sure I understand how to do that. The 2 SSDs will be the only drives in the system. My computer has an X58 motherboard with an ICH10R. Here is what I think is the correct procedure: Boot into the bios. Set the storage config to RAID (the other choices are IDE and AHCI) Reboot and hit Cntrl-I to get into raid menu during boot. Set up the raid array in the setup screen. Reboot to the Windows 7 install CD and install Windows Is this correct? Are there any other steps I need or tips I should be aware of?
I have a 6TB raid array consisting of 2 3TB drives. I have the latest Motherboard with EFI bios. The Intel RST utility allowed me to set up this array, and it says it is bootable. I would like this to be my C: drive.
How can I get Windows 7 to install and boot from this array.
In a new build I'm trying to create a RAID 1 array with two 1TB drives. The drive mode is set to RAID on the Motherboard, and I was able to successfully create the RAID within the Intel Rapid Storage BIOS. Once booted into windows, in the Intel Rapid Storage Technology Window it says recognizes that the RAID is there and says the status is normal. It has been initialized through this program also (although i have read that there is no need to initialize for a RAID 1). In Disk Manager I can see my SSD that windows boots from, and 1 WD 1TB drive (There is 2 there though, but this makes me think that it sees that its a RAID) and it shows it as unallocated space. In "My Computer" the only drive i can see is my SSD. So i guess my question is what do i need to do to make Windows see the RAID in "My Computer"? This is my first RAID build so im new the the RAIDing world.
I'm trying to install Windows 7 64-bit on my brand new custom PC, using a RAID0 drive array. I already set the array in the BIOS, and the BIOS sees it. All shall be going to plan...
Nope.
The beginning of the install goes fine, I accept the Terms and all that good stuff, it's loading files, yadadada.. but when it gets to the part where it's asking me where Windows 7 is asking me what drive it should be on, nothing is there. It asks for drivers (my SB750 RAID drivers) so it can find the drives, I put in my USB flash drive with the RAID drivers (I tried both from disk and website), it tells me that no new devices could be found.
I don't think it's a problem with my physical computer, So it's either that I messed something up in the BIOS or Windows 7 is being picky on it's RAID arrays.
Last year sometime, my install and all that went flawless, I put Windows 7 64 bit pro on a fresh drive, let it format and install as it wanted, zero problems. Boot drive was alone in the PC, its a WD black 320, I dont have the model or part number in front of me, but it seems to be a solid drive. The PC is a built clone, using Asus mobo and AMD dual core, spec's are in my profile if anyone needs to look that up, basically I don't see any of that mattering in my problem but there you go.added a promise RAID card last night, using an existing array from a previous build, and the system worked great and booted great once. I thought I was home free, but rebooted just to check since I have so little faith in PC's until they work twice, and sure enough I get hung at the glowing windows screen if this card is installed.I have read all I can here on this, and have been thru much troubleshooting... BIOS is fine, boot drive reads fine... the card and its fast track utility see the array fine... all those drives recognize just fine... the problem as I think today is, with the new array in place, windows can't figure out where to boot.
The old array was bootable years ago, so there is probably an MBR on it? I'm guessing a little at this point, but I used to boot to that array but went away from that years ago... since then, and I think I was on win2k back then, but adding an fresh hdd then, and since moving to XP, nothing ever cared... forward to today, Windows 7 does not like this array being in the mix, thus it hangs at the glowing window screen (the starting windows splash where the happy color balls form the win logo)remember, this was all up and running once, so that should eliminate a bunch of trial and error on bad drives, bios issues, and driver stuff... i have been thru the ringer with promise, and they swear the driver is good and is WQHL certified and all that... pulling the RAID card out lets me boot normally, so the hang up is definitely with the presence of this array the catch?? while my boot was C: to begin with, before i ever put the raid in, I put in another solo hdd... i backed up all my pictures to it.. and just before doing all this, noticed that while my C drive and E drive were all legit letter wise, looking in the disk manager, the E drive was listed as disk 0, and the C drive was disk 1... this wasn't a problem at that point, but makes me wonder why on earth the boot drive isn't device 0.
Running Windows 7 Ultimate x64. I have setup a partition which I transfered from on drive to another and now my boot partition is on an SSD Raid array connected to an LSI 9260 controller. If I boot the computer with the RAID Array first, the computer will just hang there. No message no nothing after the Verify DMI success message. If I setup my computer to boot from CD first and the the RAID Array second and with a bootable CD in the drive, the BIOS will display the "Press any key to boot from CD" If I don't touch anything, then windows will load just fine when the boot sequence switches to the RAID Array.
I was contemplating using a Raid 0 array as my primary C: drive with OS. I understand all the issues with that and do regular daily backups. I used to use Acronis which had no trouble with a raid array. But on this new build I was wondering if the built in backup tools would be able to image and more importantly restore my data to the array. My back up drive is not part of the array. I would guess that it would see it just fine from the OS and have no trouble creating the backup image, I am more concerned that if I had to use the rescue disk and reload the image whether or not the array would be visible to the restore disk.
I have just bought two brand new WD 500 GB RE4 HDD's and connected them coorectly for RAID 1. I have changed the BIOS and Pressed Ctrl+F to create the RAID and this has been successful. When installing Windows you obviously get to the aprt where you need to load the floppy drivers to locate the drives...
I have downloaded ever driver from the Gigabyte support drive and loaded them onto a USB, not one driver can be seen when the USB is "Browsed" too...
How important is it that the drivers are on a floppy, as I do not have a floppy drive or access to a floppy and drives. Also what driver should be downloading as I tried the 3.2.1540.17 one and that was not seen, so I just downloaded them all in an attempt for success.
I had a successful raid 5 array setup. It was assigned to g and while I was installing ps3 media server and then java it lost it's drive assignment. It shows up under disk management but asks me to initialize it. I really don't want to do that because it will format and i will lose the data on the volume. What else can i do to get my array to show up in windows with my data intact?
Installed a new M4 ssd today and loaded windows on it. Previously i was using 2 raptors in raid 0 for the os and programs. I re raided the 2 raptors and connected them to the jmicron ports and set them up for raid in bios, then created the raid 0 array no prob. Windows doesnt see the array when loaded up and i have the latest rst drivers installed..did this prior to the os install on the ssd. using the x58 e760a1 mobo. under device manager, the raid controller has an exclamation mark and no driver installed yet i have the latest rst 10.8.0.1003 installed..
I have an OCZ Vertex 3 SSD and 2 WD caviar blue HDDs. I have them installed on an ASUS Maximus IV Gene-Z MB. I have Win 7 Home Installed on the SSD and would like to set up a RAID 1 array with the HDDs for my data storage (music, pictures, etc.). From what I understand I must do a hardware RAID setup since Win 7 Home does not support the software RAID array. The only information I could find is how to install windows on the array and not use it as a non-bootable array for data storage.
I recently bought my new computer, and it came with two RealSSD C300 256 GB. I want to set up raid 0 to have one drive with 512 GB. I really don't mind the performance boost, i just want to have one partition with 512 GB. I already have it on RAID mode, but whenever the Marvel screen appears, i already tried pressing CTRL M, CTRL R, CTRL I, Space, none of those seem to work.
I am on the tail end of building my system. It has been quite and experience so far. After an already successful first build, the computer is OC at 3.9 ghz stable but then I felt the urge to upgrade my sole 1TB hard drive ( 32 MB Cache /3 mbs ) into a RAID 0 configuration,using 2 brand new WD 1TB hard drive, 64 MB Cache / 6 mbs, which my Asus supports. I am assuming that this will seriously improve speed and performance.trying to figure out the RAID setup in BIOS and a clean install of Windows 7 64 bit, I finally got it to work. The computer is now operational. But there is only concern I have...
I can't tell any MAJOR improvement ! A slight improvement in speed when I change windows and programs is notice.In addition, the transfer rate when I moved files to the new RAID was quicker at around 88 MBS. Why I am concern is because my Windows system assessment's score for hard disk transfer rate is only at 5.9, which is low and the same as before. Everything else is at 7.5 or higher. Also, I was hoping the load times of my files ( the thumbnail previews ) would increase in speed, but appears to be the same. I am somewhat certain that my RAID setup in BIOS was done correctly. The system is seeing one drive with a 2 TB capacity. I use my computer to do a lot of hd video editing.
1- Is there a way or to test, monitor, or tweak my RAID 0 setup for optimum performance?
2- Am I actually getting the best out of RAID 0 and my expectations were just too high?
3- Are there specifically " one " type of RAID 0 setup? ( I just want to eliminate the possibility of setting up RAID 0 incorrectly in BIOS ).
AMD 965 125 watt ATI 5770 700 watt psu M4a87td EVO 8 gigs of ddr-3 memory Windows 7 64 bit home WD 1TB hard drive 64 mb cache/ 6 mbs ( RAID O )
my goal is to boot windows 7 x64 with raid-1. My boot drive is a SSD, which is not part of the raid array. I have 3 seagate ST2000DM001 that I want in raid-1. I have tried installing windows 7 with ahci in bios first but no luck. I was able to boot from raid1 when I started bios out in raid but my ssd drives read/write speeds significantly decreases.
First off I am running Win 7 on a primary SSD, and have 2 1TB HDD in RAID 1 for storage. I have been running this setup fine for a while now. I recently updated my BIOS (P8P67) using the EZ Flash utility from USB per the following steps:
-Restore defaults -Flash new BIOS -Restore defaults -Reset SATA mode to RAID
Everything went fine, and I verified that my BIOS was seeing the 2 HDD as 1 volume. The Intel RAID controller shows the mirrored volume and 2 drives on bootup, all fine. However, when I get into windows, the RAID volume is not listed in the Intel RST software, device manager or disk management.
I was wondering how i can enable Raid-5 in my windows X64 professional ? _The button for raid 5 is greyed out right now and i wonder why ?the motherboard i use is a GIGABYTE GA-890FXA-UD5 AM3 ATX
I have a Biostar mainboard with Sata Raid 0 enabled. I am trying to install win 7 sp1 but the install process asks for a driver. I thought the drivers are on the win 7 disk itself ? I do not have a floppy disc.
I have a smooth running Windows 7 system. I want to convert it to a Raid 1 system. I have a ASUS Rampage Formula motherboard with a Intel X48 chipset and ICH9R installed. It has 4gb memory, Core 2 Quadand a WD 640 gb drive. I have purchased another WD 640 to setup the Raid 1 array. I cannot find anyone who has installed it on a running system, they all build a new system. Can you install Rain 1 on a running system? If so how do you do it?
I've been having some issues with a computer that belongs to CEO of the company I work for. It was built by his son in law and that son in law doesn't really have time to work on it anymore so fortunately "end of sarcasm" that responsibility falls on me.Computer was running great until about two or three months ago where after shutting it down for the night and turning it back on in the morning would cause the computer to reboot three times after going through POST and during 4th time he was able to boot into OS (WIN7 64bit). I updated his bios and that seemed to fix the problem, BUT the computer was set in a Raid 1, but for some reason it is no longer set up that way. I see both HDD as separate HDD in "My Computer" C: & D:, both are 600GB with about 400GB of space free. How can I return them into their raid 1 configuration? MOBO is GA-X58A-UD7 Rev 2, Intel Core i7 970 cpu with 12GB DDR3 RAM Total. He has about $10,000 worth of programs on it (Electrical & Mechanical Engineer) and it would take me weeks if I had to start from scratch.
Before I begin my overclocking project, I'd like to update my BIOS. I'm currently using an ASUS P8Z68-V/GEN3 with a BIOS of 0301. According to their website there is a new BIOS 0402. One of the two components of the update states "increased stability". So I'm thinking updating the BIOS would be groovy before I begin my overclocking project.After my week old build, I've done two things to the 0301 BIOS. I've used the ASUS OC for dummies button and overclocked it to "Fast" (not Extreme). I've also configured it to RAID.
1) Should I "un-overclock" to its original settings it before updating?
2) When I update it, will the update put the BIOS back to default settings, including the RAID setting reverting to AHCI?
If the answer to #2 is yes, then it will default to AHCI rather than RAID when the update is complete.....so is it just a matter of resetting it to RAID before attempting to boot Windows again? I ask this because of the pain I experienced when I had to reinstall Windows after going from AHCI to RAID the first time.
After flashing the bios, my computer could not find the OS. The options displayed recommended that I try to repair the OS, so I made that selection with no joy. I went into the bios setup and found that it was no longer setup for my raid 1 drives, so reconfigured. When I did this, I missed setting the SATA 4/5 to IDE and went through the process again of trying to repair the OS. Once again, that did not work.
I went back into the bios and discovered my oversight, fixed it, but the computer still does not recognize my raid drives. The raid bios setup utility still shows a valid array. At this point, my assumption is that it doesn't recognize the array drive because the driver isn't loading, so I've tried to reload the drivers. The motherboard manual only describes how to do this when installing a new operating system and I do not want to lose my programs. Do you have any suggestions?
- build a system with 1 WD1101FALS HDD and installed Windows 7 64 bit no problem. All was good for few days until I got a bug to set up a RAID 10.
- Went out bought 3 more of the same drives. All 4 drives are WD1101FALS 1TB.
- Set up the RAID 10 array on the ASUS motherboard, got the RAID drives for Win7 64bit on a USB key.
- Start install, no problem. Win7 asks for drivers, I click browse and select the drives from USB for the RAID. Install continues, files are copied, thing are flying, it's fast.
- Then 1st re-start
- Windows continues to install (finalizing things, registry update, etc).
- I get to 4 check marks on the Windows Install screen and then it goes into the last step "Completing Installation". The progress bar goes to about 80% complete and then
BLACK SCREEN, computer re-starts. Windows comes up with a message "The computer restarted unexpectedly or encountered an unexpected error. Windows installation can not proceed. etc.." It assks to press OK and and PC re-starts and the installation re-starts from scratch. I tried about 15 times, with different RAID drives, from XP to Vista, to Win7.
I have no clue what else I can try. Usually people have problem with the RAID drives but I have no problem with that step. The drivers are selected and seem to be working fine. The install almost completes.
Here are the images on how far along the install goes. The progress bar actually goes more than that, I just took a picture before the black screen.
I am having trouble installing windows 7 (home premium) on my new raid array (2x intel 330 120GB SSD in RAID0). Basically, windows CAN see the raid volume. it recognies that there is a single 223 GB volume available. I select "Load Driver" for the volume, and plug in my trusty USB with the appropriate intel SATA RAID drivers. Win7 recognizes that there is a compatible driver on the USB, installs it, but still says: "Windows cannot be installed to this disk. This computers hardware may not support booting to this disk. Ensure that the disk's controller is enabled in the computer's BIOS menu". The format and create new partition options are grayed out for this volume.
Using the Intel Rapid Storage Technology tool, I combined the two drives into a raid0 volume. This is confirmed because when I restart, the raid volume shows up in the RST echo with the right size, and also indicates that the volume is bootable. It is also confirmed because the windows 7 setup only sees one 223GB disk. I have confirmed that in the BIOS, the SATA controller is set to RAID mode (not AHCI). I have confirmed that in the BIOS, the first boot option is "RAID intel SSD". I've tried the RAID drivers that came with the motherboard, Ive also tried the raid drivers available from intel and the latest raid drivers available from the motherboard MFR.
I bought an Asus Desktop CG5290-BP007 at best buy, when I opened it says RAMPAGE II GENE/CG5290/DP MB
Asus CG5290 motherboard: Rampage II Gene Micro Atx Processor: Intel I7 920 (2.66 Ghz) Ram: 9GB HD: Seagate 1TB 7200 RPM Windows Vista Home Premium 64
If you want to see the link here it is: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9366642&type=product&id=1218092150864
I removed the Seagate and I put 2 WD Velociraptors 300 GB each and 10,000 RPM, I have a concern, one it is on the port 1 and the other velociraptor is on port 3.
Does it affect in order to make appear the RAID option in the bios? Because it does not appear, it just appears these options: IDE and AHCI. How come it does not appear RAID in the bios options?
What am I doing wrong? Or what do I have to do in order to setup in the bios as RAID?
I don’t know if this link below it is exactly my motherboard, it seems that my desktop came a little bit different than this motherboard or they designed specially just for best buy, I am not sure about it.
I took several pictures to show you what appears when I turn on the computer and when press <Del> to enter in the bios and when I just turn on the computer and I don’t do anything.
I went to Asus website and I downloaded the manual for Rampage II Gene Motherboard, I was reading it and It says that Intel Matrix Storage Manager option Rom utility will appear when I press CTRL + I , I tried it several times and nothing happens, is that option working in my Asus Desktop CG5290-BP007 ?
Please help me what to do, I would like to install Windows 7, my hard disks are not formatted I think so, because I just installed them and I am not able to see RAID in the bios options, Please tell what steps to follow in order to setup RAID 0 in this computer.
I'm working on a computer with a RAID setup. It is 2 hard drives 500gb each showing up as 1tb in windows. Both drives show up in the bios but all of a sudden when trying ot start the computer I get a "Operating system is missing" error.
I'm trying to run a chkdsk form a win 7 64 bit disk and telling it to run on H; (system drive) but it says 'cannot open volume for direct access'.
The other drive, C: is just a recovery drive built into dell computer systems. I tried using a boot cd and running mbrfix to no avail.
I am in the process of putting (5) 3TB HDD's into my computer (Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit) to rip my Blu-ray collection to for playback in my home theater room via a Popcorn Hour player. Each drive is independent and I will be systematically filling one drive before going onto the next.The problem is that the Popcorn Hour players communicate with the PC by specifying one folder via SMB that contains all of my media. Since I am doing independent drives, there will be one master folder on each drive containing all of the media for that said drive. Meaning, in terms of the Popcorn Hour/SMB setup, there are five folders I need it to *see* and catalog.
