Windows 7 and Raid 1

[Patrickssj6]

I have Windows 7 running on a 500GB SATA drive.

Just yesterday I added 2 x 1TB SATA HDDs which I want to run in Raid 1.

I went into the Bios, changed it to RAID, used that configuration tool to set up the Raid. After I reboot though, Windows starts to load and then has a bluescreen. I then downloaded the RAID drivers and put them on a USB stick.

I misplaced my Windows 7 DvD (no joke here, still have my product key sticker on the PC though) so used a Vista one for testing purposes and I was able to load the Drivers from the USB to have my RAID show up before the installation.

My question now, I am going to borrow a Win7 disc tomorrow from my friend, how do I correctly install the RAID drivers without installing Windows again? Or can I install them without even having the disc?

Once again, my OS is not part of the Raid 1 system.

Mobo:
http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=vk9Pqxby9MjO0WHm

[Cortexian]

I had the motherboard chipset drivers installed on Windows 7 before attempting any RAID stuff, so that might of been why it worked so well for me. This is all I did though:

For PCI RAID Card:


Install card in PC.
Attach drives.
Boot, enter cards BIOS.
Setup RAID arrays I wanted.
System reboots to Windows.
Install cards drivers.
Reboot.
Windows see's the array(s).

For motherboard RAID:


Install motherboard chipset drivers (I already had this done).
Attach drives.
Boot, enter BIOS.
Enable RAID mode for the specific SATA ports I was using for RAID cards.
Reboot to RAID BIOS.
Setup RAID array.
Reboot to Windows.

If you're installing on a clean system without Windows, you'll need the specific drivers for your RAID setup before the Windows installer will "see" the array and let you install to that drive.

[Patrickssj6]

Yeah on the Internet there are a lot of posts with a clean install with Windows...but almost none with adding Raid afterwards.

I found one that said that you insert the Windows 7 Installation, go to "Install Now", load the drivers, hit the back button and then go to repair. Gonna try that and see how it works, otherwise Software RAID.

Thanks for the post though.

[Cortexian]

It's odd that Windows 7 is BSOD'ing if you're just ADDING a new array. You should be able to just boot to Windows, install the drivers you need, and then reboot. In fact, since Windows 7 is so awesome it should just auto-detect and install the drivers you need D:

[Patrickssj6]

The thing is that all the SATA ports run in RAID mode even though just 2 drives are part of the RAID Array.

I have 2 SATA ports which I could run in IDE but they are hidden below the big GTX 275 xD

[Cortexian]

Ah okay. On my motherboard you have to set the specific SATA ports you want to RAID mode. The others can be left in normal SATA mode.

[Patrickssj6]

Well yeah I can set individually which ones are going to run in the RAID Array but usually if you change SATA modes from IDE to RAID, multiple SATA ports are affected.

In my case the SATA ports 1-4 and 5-6 have to have the same SATA configuration e.g.

1-4 RAID
5-6 IDE.

or

1-4 IDE
5-6 RAID

or 1-6 RAID,IDE,AHCI...etc.

Complicated shit. This technology is definitely not finished yet. :P

[Cortexian]

Yeah, like I said I've got 6 ports and each one can be set individually. So 1-2 could be set to RAID while 3-6 are running in normal SATA mode. Good for setting up and testing arrays without having to deal with having to install drivers before installing Windows.

I haven't ever had to setup a RAID array for anyone else except my self so my experiences with different BIOS configurations is fairly limited. How new is your motherboard?

[Patrickssj6]

About 2 years I guess http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=vk9Pqxby9MjO0WHm

[Cortexian]

Huh, newer than my Asus then (bought my Striker Extreme in 2006). I'm surprised you can't enable/disable RAID on the individual ports, but they may restrict that to the Republic of Gamers models or something as a "platinum feature" or whatever you want to call it.

[Patrickssj6]

Well I fix'd :P

I just changed the 5+6 ports to IDE and connected my Windows HDD and my DVD Drive there. 1-4 are running SATA in RAID mode and 1,2 are occupied by the RAID array (so technically I have space for 2 more).

System booted into Windows fine, wanted the RAID drivers installed them and done. There is no other way of doing it. If I would have had the options like you (which I thought I had before getting into this mess) this would have all been far more easy :P

Anyway thanks for the help Lance.