Raid and Vista

Say I wanted to install 2 500GB hard drives in Raid 0 on a P-7811 FX, and the default 200GB drive already has data on it.

Can I do a full PC backup (the one that preserves your OS, data, applications, settings, etc.) of the 200GB drive's contents, and then when the Raid installation is finished, just move the contents that was backed up onto the new Raid volume? Is this possible and if so, are there any things (drivers?) I need to be aware of?

Or do I have to reinstall the OS again, along with reinstalling all the applications?
Thanks for your input

 

I've been told that the only way to do it is to set up the RAID array in BIOS and then install the OS. The Vista install DVD has RAID drivers built in, but you can download the latest Intel Matrix Storage Manager driver files and load them at installtime if you want to.

What you might want to try doing is install the Intel Matrix Storage Manager into your existing OS (which alone I know wont work) and then inject the iastor drivers too.

However; Vista, like XP gets flakey after awhile and you might be better off just using the wizard to export your settings and running the Vista file backup utility and restoring whatever you need that way into a new full install.

 

Im taking a stab at it. Take your old hardrive out and put the 500gig X 2 raid 0 setup in. Now im not sure about this but after that is all done use this cable with your old hard drive. Than use some kind of software.... l

lol im totaly guessing.... maybe use Vlite to slipstream your existing OS

Or even raid 0 + 1 not sure throwing ideas out and working backwords from there

**New** after some searching I found this site. Look down a ways for thecompukid.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/178559-32-converting-sata-drive-data-raid0-reformat

 

SATA drives need an external power supply in addition to the data cable. I think the best route to go would be to buy an external case for the drive for about five to ten dollars more which would include the case and power cable in addition to the data cable.

As for the OP I would still recommend a complete re-install of both the OS and applications.

The nice thing about Vista, if you have the Business or Ultimate version, is that you can create a complete custom image that you can use to restore on a freshly formatted drive that includes everything, including apps. You just need to decide what you want to be a part of a new installation, and install only those items and then do your back up.

If you image everything right after you install, you can assure yourself that future re-installations are fresh. Since Vista, like all other MS OS's, gets unstable after a while, re-installs are inevitable and having a completed custom image for re-installation is a good thing.

This is currrently the boat I'm in. I'm holding out for SP2 before I create a new image since my Vista Ultimate DVD is SP1.