RAID 1 Vista and XP dual boot (Repost - no response on XP hdwe forum)

[Don Pullem]

I want to setup a RAID 1 system on two blank 250GB HDs on my Dell
Dimension XPSGen5. I want to install Vista on the RAID 1. I have another
250GB HD which presently has XP Home on it. I would like to setup a dual
boot system so that I can still use XP while I build up the Vista RAID 1
system. It's possible I might decide to keep XP (depends how the Vista
install goes).



My Dell manual explains in detail how to setup the RAID 1 using the Intel
RAID Option ROM. I understand how to make the necessary change in the BIOS
for RAID. What I'm not clear on is..



After I install VISTA on the RAID 1 setup and install Vista. Do I have to
go back into the BIOS and change them again in order to access Windows XP?
How do the BIOS get changed depending on what OS you want to boot up?



I need help on how to configure the setup so I can boot to whatever OS I
want to use. I would also like any suggestions on how to partition this
setup. Would it be better to partition the RAID setup and put both OS on it
and use the 3rd HD data/image storage?



Don

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi,

First thing you need to do is check and see if Dell is supplying a
Vista-compatible raid driver for the system. Without one, anything further
will be an exercise in futility.

If there is one, then boot with the Vista DVD and start setup, you will need
to supply the raid driver in order to install to those disks. Setup will
overwrite the bootloader, which is likely on the drive with XP, with
Vista's. This bootloader will allow you to select either OS at startup, you
need do nothing special. You should not need to change anything in the BIOS.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Don Pullem]

Hi,

Thanks Rick for taking the time to respond. I downloaded a Vista-compatible
raid driver for my 955X chipset from Intel.. So looks like I'm in business.
I appreciate the info.

Don