"Injecting" RAID into a functioning Vista build

[Jeff C]

Hello, all.

I have a current Vista Home Premium (32-bit) build. I have 4 WD 160GB SATA
drives, non-RAID. I also have an external backup solution. My motherboard
supports software RAID through an Intel controller. Here's what I would like
to do:

Go from a non-RAID setup to a RAID 0 configuration, without having to
reinstall Vista (along with everything else currently installed).

I have taken a full system backup, changed the drives into a RAID0 config,
then restored the OS et. al from backup. Yet when I try booting, the system
crashes. In my understanding, this is because the RAID drivers are not
installed in my backed up configuration. (At least, this is what would make
sense to me.)

So, the question is, how can I "inject" the RAID drivers into my current
build of Vista, take a backup of that build, switch the drives to RAID0,
restore the backup, and have my system come up cleanly?

Thank you in advance!

Jeff

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

Hello, all.

I have a current Vista Home Premium (32-bit) build. I have 4 WD 160GB
SATA
drives, non-RAID. I also have an external backup solution. My
motherboard
supports software RAID through an Intel controller. Here's what I would
like
to do:

Go from a non-RAID setup to a RAID 0 configuration, without having to
reinstall Vista (along with everything else currently installed).

I have taken a full system backup, changed the drives into a RAID0 config,
then restored the OS et. al from backup. Yet when I try booting, the
system
crashes. In my understanding, this is because the RAID drivers are not
installed in my backed up configuration. (At least, this is what would
make
sense to me.)

So, the question is, how can I "inject" the RAID drivers into my current
build of Vista, take a backup of that build, switch the drives to RAID0,
restore the backup, and have my system come up cleanly?

Thank you in advance!

Jeff

Take a look here..

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=830

BUT, read these two first..

http://www.pugetsystems.com/articles.php?id=24

http://www.pugetsystems.com/articles?&id=29

--
Mike Hall - MVP
How to construct a good post..
http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm
How to use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups..
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=newswhelp&style=toc
Mike's Window - My Blog..
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx

 

[Jeff C]

No, I hadn't tried the repair. I wasn't aware that the repair would actually
diagnose a RAID issue and preperly install the drivers. I'll give that a
whirl.

Thank you for the information!

Jeff

 

[Jeff C]

Good afternoon, Mike.

Thank you for the reply. I guess I should have specified that my OS would
go on the RAID0 as well. The information you provided unfortunately
addresses new OS installations only. That defeats the purpose of not wanting
to reinstall the OS and all associated programs.

Jeff

 

[Len Mattix]

If all else fails you probably would still have the option of restoring the
image to a single drive, installing the RAID drivers then making a new
image.

FWIW,

Len