Failed Windows Install, Losing Storage. Help.

[Skep18]

So I just finished building/completely upgrading my PC. I am now running 2 Samsung 850 EVO 250GB SSD's in Raid0. I started off with something like 467.5GB of available space.

Upon trying to install Windows 8.1, it failed installation twice with an error code (different issue). However after each time it shows my available storage space to be less by 6-9GB. After failing twice I think I'm down to somewhere around 449GB or something.

■I would assume the failed install is leaving data somewhere? Maybe in it's own (inaccessible) partition?
■Is this space I can get back somehow? I hate that I'm losing space on an SSD which hasn't even been used yet...
■I don't think this is anything I can do in BIOS so I assume I need to successfully install an OS, right?

Thanks for any input anyone can give.

 

[USAFRet]

1. Why RAID 0 with those?
2. 467.5GB for 2 x 250GB drives is perfectly normal and expected.

But moving on...the repeated installs almost certainly leave behind a Windows.old folder. You get rid of those in Disk Cleanup, Remove old Windows Versions.

 

[Skep18]

1. Why RAID 0 with those?
2. 467.5GB for 2 x 250GB drives is perfectly normal and expected.

But moving on...the repeated installs almost certainly leave behind a Windows.old folder. You get rid of those in Disk Cleanup, Remove old Windows Versions.

Thanks man. I figured it was something that easy. I am away from the machine for the night and figured I would ask just to make me feel better.

1. I wanted more SSD space and as I sorta referred to above (in a confusing manner admittedly) I ended up with two of those in my posession. It was sort of, "I already had it" and not, "I bought it this way on purpose."

2. Yea, I knew that would be normal. I was just concerned about the diminishing space.

 

[USAFRet]

2 x 250GB SSD in RAID 0 = 500GB space
2 x 250GB SSD not in RAID 0 = 500GB space.

The only advantage you gain is 1 drive letter vs 2.

 

[Skep18]

2 x 250GB SSD in RAID 0 = 500GB space
2 x 250GB SSD not in RAID 0 = 500GB space.

The only advantage you gain is 1 drive letter vs 2.

RAID 0 has the advantage of faster read/write so when loading games like GTA 5 with load screens which take forever, I'm hoping this may help cut this down some. However, I admit what I've read shows this advantage might not be all that significant over a single SSD.

The main reason was games (like GTA 5) are getting quite big (60GB). If I begin to reach the max capacity of the drives, I may be faced with a situation where I have utilized 200GB of one of the drives and not have enough space left to install a game on it and will thus have unused space which I can't utilize. I figured running in RAID 0 I will maintain the most capacity possible between the two drives.

Also, I kinda figured the odds of me failing an SSD are slim and even if I did, losing all of my data is no biggie to me. I backup what I want to keep (photos, files, etc.) and keep them on a separate HDD anyways (read backup statement for poor HDD reliability).

 

[USAFRet]

2 x 250GB SSD in RAID 0 = 500GB space
2 x 250GB SSD not in RAID 0 = 500GB space.

The only advantage you gain is 1 drive letter vs 2.

RAID 0 has the advantage of faster read/write so when loading games like GTA 5 with load screens which take forever, I'm hoping this may help cut this down some. However, I admit what I've read shows this advantage might not be all that significant over a single SSD.

Not significant in the least.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-raid-benchmark,3485.html

 

[Skep18]

Not significant in the least.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-raid-benchmark,3485.html

Nice article! Thanks! It certainly outlines the benchmarks and is very informative! Definitely verifies this is not so much a true benefit and even a detriment in certain scenarios however I suspect I will not notice any difference between running them separate or in RAID0.

Ultimately I am doing it just to make sure I can get the most use out of my total SSD capacity. Trying to utilize my new setup, I look forward to some games which will likely have a large storage requirement. It might not be a huge deal but being able to utilize the tail end of each drive might mean I can fit one more game on the PC before having to buy more space.

Also the single letter is a big deal and should not be under-valued! lol. J/k. It is nice though to not have so many drives.

Curiousity has gotten the best of me though... What would constitute "high queue depths"? It mentions being mostly in commercial situations but I was just wondering.

"Once we jump up into very high queue depths, both RAID-based arrangements distinguish themselves."