Move RAID0 member disks to other, identical laptop and boot from RAID array?

Hi ...

I am having to return a new MSI Stealth Pro machine due to a screen problem; I have ordered the exact same model MSI Stealth Pro and am wondering if I can simply install my three (mSATA) hard drive RAID 0 array without having to rebuild the whole array and then re install all the software.

I spent a good five days configuring this Windows 7 install and would like to simply move the discs over to the new rig...

I am thinking simply plug the discs in, boot to BIOS and change SATA to "RAID" and OS to "LEGACY" and then I hope the RAID controller would recognize the 3 member discs and simply boot the array...

But I've never done this sort of swap before so was wondering if any of the more experienced tech sort out there could comment.

It's a x3 512gb mSATA RAID0 array; nothing else special about it ... brand new Windows 7 install with all drivers functioning perfectly (all critical work apps as well and man am I hoping to have to spend another few days re doing everything)



Thanks for any input...

Joel

 

Just a little update ...

After doing a bit more research around the net, it seems the consensus is that you can move the hard drives associated with a RAID array to another computer but will generally only work if the exact same RAID controller is being used...

Also, there was a bit of mention that the actual drives needed to be plugged in to the exact same SATA port on the motherboard (in my case, mSATA)...

Just got the new machine in today and moved the drives and the system started up just fine...

FYI and for future reference should anyone be in the same boat...

 

A little more info for future readers:

As s1rrah confirms, moving a raid array to another identical computer works great (as long as the array was healthy to begin with).

If the array is built using a specific hardware controller, then yes, it needs the same exact hardware to be 'seen' again. And keeping the drives in the same order is a smart idea (but not always necessary, depending on the smarts of the RAID controller that is used).


However, if the array is built with Window's 7 or higher built in RAID software, then you can take those drives and put them in any Windows machine (of same or higher version) and Windows will make sense of them for you and display your data.

What it can't do is make the drive that it boots from be part of the array.


s1rrah, thanks for the confirmation update and glad it worked out well for you.