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    How to tell if you have RAID 0 configured

    Discussion in 'Alienware' started by SteenMason, Feb 9, 2010.

  1. SteenMason

    SteenMason Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hello Gurus,

    I just got my Alienware M17x-R2 and I ordered it with 2 320gb HD in a Raid 0 configuration.

    How can I be positive that the HD's are configured in a RAID 0?

    When I look at my hard drives in windows explorer, it looks like I have 2 seperate 298GB hard drives.

    Help please.
     
    SteenMason, Feb 9, 2010
    #1
  2. blaster

    blaster 1 tequila, 2,3,4,5, floor

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    yo need t0 enable raid 0 on bios and do a clean install of w7 on them, they did not configure them on raid 0, there should be only one 640gb HDD on windows
     
    blaster, Feb 9, 2010
    #2
  3. SteenMason

    SteenMason Notebook Enthusiast

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    so i looked in BIOS and under my hard drives i see the setting: ACHI

    Shouldnt that say RAID 0 or something?
     
    SteenMason, Feb 9, 2010
    #3
  4. Wolf_666

    Wolf_666 Notebook Enthusiast

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    If they correctly configured your 2 x 320gb HD in a Raid 0, you should see, in explorer, only 1 drive with a capacity of 640Gb..2 physical units but only 1 logic drive.
     
    Wolf_666, Feb 10, 2010
    #4
  5. dave-p

    dave-p Notebook Deity

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    Yes, you need to change the setting to Raid if you want to run the drives in raid 0 or 1.

    Bear in mind doing this will wipe the drives and your restore partition, so you will have to use the AW restore DVD.

    So if you have anything you need on the single drive now back it up on an external drive.
     
    dave-p, Feb 10, 2010
    #5
  6. Lord_Zath

    Lord_Zath Notebook Deity

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    During bootup, you'll see something about hitting F10 to enter the RAID setup utility. Hit F10.

    In the window that pops up, you should see your two drives. If they are set to STRIPE, you're in RAID 0. If not, you aren't.

    Alternately, boot to Windows and go to My Computer. If you have 1 hard drive, you're on RAID. If you have 2, you aren't.
     
    Lord_Zath, Feb 10, 2010
    #6
  7. SteenMason

    SteenMason Notebook Enthusiast

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    Ok, so it appears that I do not have RAID 0 config. Really frustrating since I paid extra for it. I called Dell/Alienware and after 15 transfers got an alienware tech that said they could walk me through configuring RAID 0.

    I would need my alienware respawn CD/Kit (which I paid $50 extra for). But now I'm not so sure they sent me an Alienware Respawn kit.

    I have 2 CD's, one says "Resource DVD" and the other is a MS Win 7 CD.

    I'm guessing neither of these are the "Respawn DVD"?

    I am beginning to think that Alienware has really dropped the ball on this one.
     
    SteenMason, Feb 10, 2010
    #7
  8. Lord_Zath

    Lord_Zath Notebook Deity

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    Respawn DVD = Resource DVD. The other one is the operating system. You should be fine.
     
    Lord_Zath, Feb 10, 2010
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  9. SteenMason

    SteenMason Notebook Enthusiast

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    Apparently Respawn DVD != Resource DVD.

    After calling Tech Support, they said the Resource DVD has the drivers for my laptop but its not the Respawn DVD.

    /scarcasam
    Im enjoying this experience more and more
    /end scarcasam

    Paid for Raid 0 config and Respawn DVD and got NEITHER!
     
    SteenMason, Feb 10, 2010
    #9
  10. Kicker6820

    Kicker6820 Notebook Consultant

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    i just set it up in my bios and then ran the setup thing that pops up after the alienhead screen when you turn it on and then installed win 7 again. you sure that you don't have that on startup?
     
    Kicker6820, Feb 10, 2010
    #10
  11. SpecKane

    SpecKane Notebook Geek

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    I put http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=422486 together a while ago as a how to set up RAID0 (or 1) on systems that didn't come with it.

    Hope it helps.

    Edited to add: These instructions work for the R1 with teh AS02 and A03 bios and Windows 7 (or at least they did when I did the wipe and "upgrade" from Vista.
     
    SpecKane, Feb 10, 2010
    #11