Help with putting 2 500 GB HDD's in RAID 0

I am sure this has been asked before but after searching here and on the internet for hours I can't get my question answered. I have an old Qosmio X505 Q860 running Windows 7 Professional. I bought an exact replica of the 500 GB Hard drive that is currently installed. I want to put the new one in the expansion slot and set them as RAID 0.
1. Do I reformat the existing drive and wipe it completely before starting the process?
2. Should I expect any problems using an old drive with a new one?
3. Do I need to take any of the drivers off of the old drive? (I have the factory restore disk with all the drivers loaded on it)
4. Lastly are there any helpful tutorials that you know of that can assist me with this process.
and before you say it ----- I know it would be faster just to install a SSD but this is a rebuild for a laptop I sold to someone and I don't want to come out of pocket that much money.

 

I would not mix different model drives - nor old/new either when going to RAID0. You may not have an issue - but the problem is the timing/sync of the two drives with most likely different internal assemblies, materials and firmware. Unless they're both from the same date of manufacture?

Yeah; you cannot simply install another drive and 'enable' RAID0 - you need to do a clean install. Make sure any data you have on the current drive you have somewhere else.

For the least headaches (possibly ), I would use the Restore disks you have instead of a clean install at this point (you're giving it away anyway). Make sure you install with the RAID option enabled in the BIOS - otherwise, you'll be installing again.

With the system up and running, update all the device drivers before connecting to the net to update the O/S.


Good luck.