Vista raid set up

[Tommy123]

Need some info on setting up raid please .

Pc at the moment has winxp I have new Vista Ultimate to load + 2 NEW * 160 gb SATA hd's . (wanting to set up raid 1 )

the board Intel865pe/ neo2 -p has 2 sata connectors ( so all prepared )

My questions are .

Do I install Vista on 1 of the drives 1st then set up the raid
Does vista still need to load drivers for raid when installing or after install
how do I set up the raid 1 when windows is installed

Sorry if this is a bit vague but this is a new set up for me .

[Paul Komski]

It depends whether you want to setup vista on the RAID or not. If so then you must create the array beforehand and give Vista any RAID drivers it needs for the install if required during setup. It the mirror is for data only it doesnt matter when you set it up and you can add the RAID drivers to both XP and Vista from within their respective windows if they dont exist natively.

All of the above assumes there are drivers available for both OSes.

It is also possible to setup an installation on IDE. Add the drivers. Make an image file of the system and restore the image file to the RAID.

Do I install Vista on 1 of the drives 1st then set up the raid That is another possibility with RAID-1; effectively rebuild a "broken array". It is not always so straightforward because you may have to alter the BIOS settings between installation and RAID rebuilding - but is certainly most likely to be doable. If you go this route do install the RAID software inside windows (no conflicts in Device Manager) so that the eventual RAID will be able to see itself.

[Tommy123]

Paul thanks for the info, put the 2 new sata drives in , however the manual says on boot up press control + I to enter the Intel Raid status screen , this option does not appear just wondering now if this board supports this ,
MS-6728 Property Value
Chipset Model 82865G/PE/P
Also in bios where options to use sata drives there is no mention of raid ?

As I said previously bare with me its all a bit new to me

[Paul Komski]

It seems you have an MSI board (http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=865PE_Neo2-V) that is using the intel chipset (http://support.intel.com/products/chipsets/865pe/index.htm) and I dont think there is any native RAID support for it. Well the chipset does support it but whether the MSI board can utilise the Intel® Application Accelerator RAID Edition software (http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Product_Filter.aspx?ProductID=961) or not I am not too sure. If not you will need an inexpensive host controller card but booting to such cards is not always straightforward.

[Tommy123]

Thanks again Paul I half suspected that the manual must be for all m/b of that series. I will be building a new one soon so will keep the new sata drives for that. Many thanks .

[Paul Komski]

It could be worth a shot installing the IAARE software. It rings a bell that it did work for someone else but they may well have had different hardware. Since the Intel chip does have SATA controllers on it it is just possible that there is a "software solution" for what appears to be essentially a purely hardware based issue. The cross-over between what is hardware and what is software is a perennial "challenge".

[malcore]

Your board has the ICH5 chipset, which does not support raid. The ICH5R chipset does.

For future, upon installation, Vista will give the option to load any sata/raid drivers, if required. And I believe it can come from media other than a floppy, such as cds or usb flash drives.

[Paul Komski]

Thanks malcore. I tried to get a definitive answer but just didn't find it.

[ARMYUK]

Thank lads so to sum up the board will not support raid even with the Raid edition software . Will certainly be building new pc soon so will make sure the new board supports this . I take it if the new board supports raid I can set it up through the bios before installing Vista .

[Paul Komski]

I take it if the new board supports raid I can set it up through the bios before installing Vista .
Some configurations are in the main BIOS and others can be in the RAID's own BIOS-setup reached from a specific key-press during boot-up. Would generally suggest setting the array up in advance and also choosing the array as the boot device in the BIOS before booting to the installation CD.

[Tommy123]

Thank you Paul + Malcore I believe I know enough now for future setup . Armyuk do you have the same board or is it just a similar question to mine , hope the lads have helped you too . Thanks again for info

[ARMYUK]

No different board but its a setup I would like to do soon , also thanks for info guys .

[malcore]

Setting up Raid prior to a Windows install is, I agree, a good general rule. As well as setting it up properly to be the boot device, it can help to make the RAID array the only hard disks hooked up when installing.

My only other advice is to read the manual from front to back a few times.

Edit-Just to correct myself, as I know Paul enjoys precision :p ;) , it is ICH5 southbridge, not chipset. Chipset usually refers to both the northbridge and southbridge as a pair or set.

[Paul Komski]

He He - Yes - I believe in precision when it is pertinent - but I think pedantry and semantic cufuffles are best used sparingly. ;)