raid 0 questions with new M17X

Hi,

I just purchased and installed a 2nd hard drive in my m17x. I have a few questions...

1. My installed original drive is a 250gb 7200rpm wd and the new drive is a 320 gb wd 7200rpm. They are both the same spec...speed, model number etc. But, will the difference in size be a problem? I know that it will see the 320gb as a 250gb and don't care I got the 320gb for the same price as the 250gb.
2. Assuming there is no issue creating the raid array can you tell me the size of the preferred stripe everyone is using in these laptops. I am just a casual gamer and web surfer if it matters.
3. Lastely, I am having a hell of a time deleting the 2nd partition with the recovery information on it. Can someone reccommend free software (64 bit) to delete the partition and set it as one. I have tried the windows disk and the vista included software and it will not allow me to delete the partition.

Thanks in advance!

 

1> No this is not a problem - you just lose the extra space from the 320.

2> Use the default stripe (64K)

3> Not sure why your having a probelem - when you installed the second hdd
and setup the RAID array all your data should have been gone.. ??

 

Hi fastlappy,
If you've already inserted your new hard drive, I would suggest turning off raid and starting the Vista setup. Once you get to the partition part of the installation, it should show both drives and allow you to delete everything. At that point, you can exit out of the setup, turn raid back on, and try the setup again. Keep in mind that you might have to re-create your raid group.
Also, I just entered a world of hurt myself. I was successfully able to upgrade from premium to ultimate, but command center failed and all my keyboard lights went dead. I haven't been able to fix the issue, and command center no longer recognizes the keyboard as a light zone.

Gabe

 

wow, I really hope it doesn't kill the lights! I tried using the disk last night and couldn't delete the partition. It didn't even come up as a valid partition. I deleted the main partition and recreated and it was still missing the space from the recovery partition??

 

Hi fastlappy,
Is there any chance you have an xp disc lying around? Sometimes you can use the xp setup to delete weird partitions.

Gabe

 

I do...I am going to try that now....thx! I will write back with the outcome!

 

You can also try searching and downloading GParted. It's a boot disc of the partition editor that some Linux distros use. If you download it, burn the ISO to a disc. Then boot up the computer from the disc. When you boot it up, just hit enter at all the menus it gives you and don't change any options. You should eventually get to a blank screen with a cursor, and it will then open up a list of your partitions. It can create / delete / resize partitions for quite a few file systems.