XP SP2 not on C

[Bill]

What determines the location of the OS determined when multiple HDs are
installed?

For some time I've 2 SATA HDs (Hitachi) in a RAID0 array with partitions for
data. The OS, Win XP SP2, has been on C, as expected and the data has been
on the other partitions. The original IDE optical drive was later
supplemented with a SATA optical drive. This set up performed without
problems for many months.

Recently I had an unrecoverable crash. I wasn't and still am not sure
whether I had a hardware or software problem. A crucial need was to recover
unbacked up data and this I eventually managed to do by using Archive@ Boot
Disk. This was the only recovery tool I found to work. I then decided to
use the same application to wipe the HDs completely, and to do a fresh
install of the OS.

I ran the manufacturer's test utility on the HDs (two SATA in a RAID0 array)
and installed a third, new HD, also SATA (Western Digital). The idea is to
have the OS on the RAID0 drives with the data safely on the third HD with
backups on an external HD.

I had problems installing the OS but eventually Windows seems to have been
installed successfully but not on C, the RAID0 array. Instead it has chosen
to install on E (the SATA optical drive was allocated D and, once the IDE
function was enabled in BIOS, the IDE optical drive became F).

This rather defeats the object because I need whatever speed RAID0 offers to
be used by the OS. In any event I thought C was almost the automatic choice
for Windows? I do not recall there being any option as to which drive to
install on during the process.

The MoBo is a GA-8195P Duo (Pro). I did not change the SATA slots in which
the RAID drives were originally fitted but added the new HD to the last
remaining SATA slot.

The Bios details are

Standard CMOS features:

IDE Channel 0 Master HL-DTST DVD RAM GSH (The IDE
DVD-RAM)
IDE Channel 0 Slave None
IDE Channel 2 Master S_ATA1_ (one of the Hitachi SATA
Raid drives)
IDE Channel 2 Slave S_ATA2_ (the new Western Digital
SATA drive)
IDE Channel 3 Master S_ATA3_ (the second Hitachi SATA
Raid drive)
IDE Channel 3 Slave S_ATA4_ (the Pioneer SATA
DVD-RAM)

In the Advanced BIOS features the settings are:

1 SCSI-1 Intel Raid Volume 0

2 SCSI-2 Western Digital

3 Bootable Add in Cards



Can anyone tell me what I must do to install WinXP onto C, the RAID0 drives?



TIA

 

[philo]

What determines the location of the OS determined when multiple HDs are
installed?

For some time I've 2 SATA HDs (Hitachi) in a RAID0 array with partitions for
data. The OS, Win XP SP2, has been on C, as expected and the data has been
on the other partitions. The original IDE optical drive was later
supplemented with a SATA optical drive. This set up performed without
problems for many months.

Recently I had an unrecoverable crash. I wasn't and still am not sure
whether I had a hardware or software problem. A crucial need was to recover
unbacked up data and this I eventually managed to do by using Archive@ Boot
Disk. This was the only recovery tool I found to work. I then decided to
use the same application to wipe the HDs completely, and to do a fresh
install of the OS.

I ran the manufacturer's test utility on the HDs (two SATA in a RAID0 array)
and installed a third, new HD, also SATA (Western Digital). The idea is to
have the OS on the RAID0 drives with the data safely on the third HD with
backups on an external HD.

I had problems installing the OS but eventually Windows seems to have been
installed successfully but not on C, the RAID0 array. Instead it has chosen
to install on E (the SATA optical drive was allocated D and, once the IDE
function was enabled in BIOS, the IDE optical drive became F).

This rather defeats the object because I need whatever speed RAID0 offers to
be used by the OS. In any event I thought C was almost the automatic choice
for Windows? I do not recall there being any option as to which drive to
install on during the process.

The MoBo is a GA-8195P Duo (Pro). I did not change the SATA slots in which
the RAID drives were originally fitted but added the new HD to the last
remaining SATA slot.

The Bios details are

Standard CMOS features:

IDE Channel 0 Master HL-DTST DVD RAM GSH (The IDE
DVD-RAM)
IDE Channel 0 Slave None
IDE Channel 2 Master S_ATA1_ (one of the Hitachi SATA
Raid drives)
IDE Channel 2 Slave S_ATA2_ (the new Western Digital
SATA drive)
IDE Channel 3 Master S_ATA3_ (the second Hitachi SATA
Raid drive)
IDE Channel 3 Slave S_ATA4_ (the Pioneer SATA
DVD-RAM)

In the Advanced BIOS features the settings are:

1 SCSI-1 Intel Raid Volume 0

2 SCSI-2 Western Digital

3 Bootable Add in Cards



Can anyone tell me what I must do to install WinXP onto C, the RAID0

drives?


Best thing to do...to ensure no ambiguity is to disconnect all drives
*except* the ones that will be your RAID

Next go into the bios and build your RAID

Now go ahead and install Windows.
I know that with a slipstreamed SP3 CD you should not have to press F6 to
load drivers
but if the installer does not "see" your array
then you will need to install the RAID chipset drivers at the beginning of
the installation.

Once Windows is up and running
then connect your other drive(s) a

 

[Bill]

Hi,

Feelings of déjà vu here.

The suggested procedure reflects the situation I was in some months ago when
I first tried to add the WD drive to the existing system. Win XP was then
functioning perfectly on the SATA RAID array but the new SATA drive just
wasn't recognised by the OS. The system then started hanging and eventually
crashed totally before I tried to see if using F6 to load the drivers might
be possible without having to reinstall the OS.

Can this be done? Can you use the F6 process but stop the process at that
point and keep the existing installation of the OS?

Alternatively, as the new drive is now recognised, is there any way in which
I could temporarily disable either it or the OS on it, install the OS onto C
and then wipe E with Archive@ Boot Disk.

Do you agree that disconnecting the WD drive and going through the F6
process again seems guaranteed to lead to a repeat of the original problem?

Was there any positive step during the install that I could have taken to
ensure that the OS installed onto C, the RAID array?

 

[John John (MVP)]

Hi,

Feelings of déjà vu here.

The suggested procedure reflects the situation I was in some months ago
when I first tried to add the WD drive to the existing system. Win XP
was then functioning perfectly on the SATA RAID array but the new SATA
drive just wasn't recognised by the OS. The system then started hanging
and eventually crashed totally before I tried to see if using F6 to load
the drivers might be possible without having to reinstall the OS.

Can this be done? Can you use the F6 process but stop the process at
that point and keep the existing installation of the OS?

No, unless you follow through and do a Repair installation of the
operating system the F6 installation method will not install the drivers
on to your current Windows installation. If you abort the setup before
the first reboot nothing will be changed on the existing Windows
installation, setup files will be copied to the hard drive and changes
will be made to the boot.ini file but otherwise the existing Windows
installation will remain untouched.

Alternatively, as the new drive is now recognised, is there any way in
which I could temporarily disable either it or the OS on it, install the
OS onto C and then wipe E with Archive@ Boot Disk.

Do you agree that disconnecting the WD drive and going through the F6
process again seems guaranteed to lead to a repeat of the original problem?

Was there any positive step during the install that I could have taken
to ensure that the OS installed onto C, the RAID array?

If the SATA drive is enumerated before the RAID array the active
partition on that drive (the first enumerated drive) will be assigned
drive letter C, other active partitions on other drives will be assigned
the next available letters. You can temporarily disconnect or disable
the drive in the BIOS while you install Windows, this should assure that
the RAID array is seen as the first available active partition so it
will be assigned drive letter C.

John

 

[Bill]

Hi John,

"this should assure that
the RAID array is seen as the first available active partition so it
will be assigned drive letter C."

but that's the issue. The RAID array WAS assigned drive letter C. The SATA
CD-RW was allocated D and the WD drive E. Windows then seemed to ignore the
first available active partition - C - and installed on E. Why? How?

 

[John John (MVP)]

Did you actually try to select the array as the install location? If
your SATA (E) drive is disconnected can you install on the RAID array?
Operating systems are not meant to share the same partition and the
setup program will default to installing on another partition if an
existing Windows installation is detected.

John

 

[Bill]

The install began with both the SATA RAID Hitachi drives and the SATA
Western Digital drive erased with the Active@ Boot Disk's Active@ KillDisk
utility. They were correctly partitioned so far as I could tell, the RAID
drives were shown as taking precedence over the WD drive in the Intel
Application Accelerator Raid Option screen (which I take to mean that they
would be given the C designation and, Windows, on the last attempt,
installed without any problems. Only after looking in System after Windows
opened did I find that the RAID drives were allocated C, as anticipated, the
CD-RW D and the WD drive E but Windows was on E, not C, as I had expected.
I cannot recall there being any stage of the process when I had the ability
to choose which drive(s) Windows would install on. Did I miss something?

 

[John John (MVP)]

The install began with both the SATA RAID Hitachi drives and the SATA
Western Digital drive erased with the Active@ Boot Disk's Active@
KillDisk utility. They were correctly partitioned so far as I could
tell, the RAID drives were shown as taking precedence over the WD drive
in the Intel Application Accelerator Raid Option screen (which I take to
mean that they would be given the C designation and, Windows, on the
last attempt, installed without any problems. Only after looking in
System after Windows opened did I find that the RAID drives were
allocated C, as anticipated, the CD-RW D and the WD drive E but Windows
was on E, not C, as I had expected. I cannot recall there being any
stage of the process when I had the ability to choose which drive(s)
Windows would install on. Did I miss something?

Yes, I'm sure that you did miss something. When you get to the
Disk/Partition selection screen you can select where you want to install
Windows.

John

 

[Bill]

Back to square 1. I'm going to wipe everything, read the manuals, lay aside
half a day and try once more, making a note of every step taken. Fingers
crossed I don't need to post fro help again!

 

[John John (MVP)]

Good luck, let us know how things go.

John

 

[Bill]

I'm at my wits end now.

I wiped all the drives for a completely clean start.

I double and treble checked the Bios settings against the MoBo manual and
relevant online tutorials, set up RAID through the Ctrl I process,
rechecked Gigabytes quirky way of altering the hard drive priority and then
attempted to install Windows.

Using a floppy and F6 I pressed S when requested and chose the correct SATA
RAID controller. I ignored the second request to specify additional SCSI
adaptors and Setup continued to load files and then announced it was
starting Windows.

At that point up came the blue screen with the message that " a problem has
been detected and Windows has been shut down blah, blah

Tech info: STOP: 0x0000007b (0xf7c79524, 0xC0000034, 0x00000000,
0x00000000)"

There cannot be any viruses on the computer, all the drives were wiped
completely. The drives are not newly installed and as far as I know are
properly configured. I cannot run CHKDSK /F of course.

I ran the check utilities on the drives some time ago and they were all OK.
In any event when I had Windows running on the non-RAID drive, the RAID
drives were receiving and storing data OK.

So what can be the reason for this?

Is it at all possible that either of the Hitachi drives in the RAID array
are suffering a fault that is intermittent? This is really beginning to
drive me nuts.

I cannot find any useful information as to what STOP: 0x0000007b
(0xf7c79524, 0xC0000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000 means other than a reference
to an IRQ or I/O port address conflict existing. If that were the case how
could I check and if necessary rectify the problem?



Bill

 

[Bill]

A quick update.

Just to eliminate a few possibilities, I scrapped the RAID array,
physically disconnected all the drives then, one at a time reconnected each
one to see if Windows would install, which it did. So that seems to give
the drives a clean bill of health and points the finger directly at the
BIOS? I've installed the latest version, not that it had any effect, but I
thought it as well to eliminate as many possible causes as I could.

I've reformatted the two former RAID drives to get rid of the surplus
Windows installs and will run the PC continuously to see if a crash happens
again.

Incidentally I chose primary partitions during the formatting, in accordance
with advice from an online tutorial site, but subsequently found that
Microsoft advise choosing extended partitions. Does it matter?

Of course I'm still no closer to figuring out why this wretched piece of kit
won't let me have a 2 drive RAID and a third SATA drive. Advice leading to
a solution of that problem would be wonderful!!!

 

[Daave]

Incidentally I chose primary partitions during the formatting, in
accordance with advice from an online tutorial site, but subsequently
found that Microsoft advise choosing extended partitions. Does it
matter?

It might matter.

In order that we know what you are referencing, please post the link to
this tutorial site and the other link to the Microsoft advice.

 

[Bill]

"Step 7" here http://www.ehow.com/how_6026_format-hard-drive.html advises
choosing a primary partition. I didn't bookmark the MS site, nor what I
googled, but remember it stressing the importance of partitions on
additional drives being extended, rather than primary.
As I'd already done it, I left it as it was, my main aim being to find out
whether the system will crash shortly. So far it hasn't.

When attempting to create a RAID0 array on my 2 SATA Hitachi drives for the
OS and applications with data being allocated to the third drive (Western
Digital SATA), I didn't consider the question of partitions or whether the
drives should be basic or dynamic - and the issue never appeared as
requiring a decision on any of the setup screens. Should it have
and could it have had any effect on my not being able to achieve the
desired result?

 

[Daave]

"Step 7" here http://www.ehow.com/how_6026_format-hard-drive.html
advises
choosing a primary partition. I didn't bookmark the MS site, nor what
I
googled, but remember it stressing the importance of partitions on
additional drives being extended, rather than primary.
As I'd already done it, I left it as it was, my main aim being to find
out
whether the system will crash shortly. So far it hasn't.

When attempting to create a RAID0 array on my 2 SATA Hitachi drives
for the
OS and applications with data being allocated to the third drive
(Western
Digital SATA), I didn't consider the question of partitions or whether
the
drives should be basic or dynamic - and the issue never appeared as
requiring a decision on any of the setup screens. Should it have
and could it have had any effect on my not being able to achieve the
desired result?

In the future, Bill, please don't snip the material which you are
referring to. It makes replying to you much more difficult!

Step 7 refers to formatting a second drive while using Windows. What we
are more concerned with is the *other* section: "Formatting and
Installing from the Windows XP CD." For what it's worth, I prefer this
tutorial:

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

Since you are not interested in a simple XP installation, this is beyond
a Windows question (because of the RAID 0 array), and unfortunately I
won't be able to give you advice since I've never used RAID! I am sure
there is an important step that needs to be addressed -- something in
the BIOS.

Perhaps someone else in this newsgroup has experience with what you are
trying to do. But I'm sure you will have much better luck posting to a
newsgroup like:

alt . comp . hardware . pc-homebuilt

( I had to put in spaces; otherwise that string would trip off
Microsoft's overzealous filtering!)

 

[Bill]

I'll be heading to that newsgroup as suggested. But you see the problem?
At first it seemed the warning message hinted at it being a straightforward
OS problem, hence the post to this newsgroup. Then the drives became the
leading suspects and now, because the drives each accept an install of the
OS without a hitch the finger of suspicion is pointing at the BIOS, (God
help me if I have to try and get any intelligible sense out of Gigabyte's
support site)!