Help changing from RAID 0 to RAID 1 setup, please! Urgent!

[Freezersarecool]

I've got a question about win7 raid system. I actually want to upgrade to 10, but want to get this sorted out in 7 first, as I know it better. I bought my computer a few years ago with a RAID setup. I actually asked for RAID 1, but it came with RAID 0. I left it at the time, as I was under a heavy study schedule...

Well I'd like to get it sorted now. I know I will lose everything, so all is backed up. At the moment, I have disk 0 with three partitions, including the main 1.8 TB one, and disk 1 with a tiny 63 gb partition. Computer is an i7 3GHz processor with 8GB 1333DDR3 RAM and heavy duty sound and graphics cards, so OK for a bit yet for what I need.

What are the correct steps to take to get to a RAID 1 configuration, please?

Do I convert both drives to dynamic, then reinstall win 7 on disk 0 and mirror disk 1? Can I do that successfully in one go in the Disk management facility component of the Computer management console?

Any help gratefully received. I would really like to get this sorted in the next day - I've been butting my head over it for two already!

TIA!

 

[SidneyFalco]

This may not be the fastest route, but it's the safest. What I would do is first create an image of all the data on the RAID 0 disk and after that is done, create the RAID 1 and then transfer the data back to the new setup. Regardless of how confident you are in what you are doing, it's always safest to have a backup of all the data (especially if it's RAID 0) before proceeding with anything else

 

[JackNaylorPE]

How it's done is MoBo (chipset) specific so consult your MoBo Manual.

As an aside, I set up my current box with two 256 GB RAID SSDs and two 2 TB SSHDs in RAID 0 .... I broke both arrays after 3 months and now I have more performance and less headaches. The reason I dumped the RAID 1 was that while I liked having a backup of everything .... it wasn't very useful **inside the same box**. We now use these to do our backs and rotate the 2nd drives off site so that is the box smokes, there's a fire or theft, everything is safe off site.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=blacx&N=-1&isNodeId=1

 

[Freezersarecool]

Hi!

Thanks so much for the reply. I really am not worried about saving anything - I have backed up what I need! Tbh, it is a very good excuse to clear away a load of dross! LOL! I am looking forward I hope to a good clean start to a streamlined system - I am going to severely cut back on the programs I need, as I am not requiring that many at the moment.

I am most concerned that I get the steps correct and in the right order... otherwise I will end up with a box of very expensive metal and nothing with which to commuicate now and study with come October.

 

[USAFRet]

Question:
What is the desire for the RAID 1? It's not very useful in a single user, single box application.

 

[Freezersarecool]

"What is the desire for the RAID 1? It's not very useful in a single user, single box application."

The extra safely of not having an operating system go poof in spite of care and management as Windows seems in the habit of doing - although admittedly, I stuck with 7 for so long because it was more stable than most. Likewise those very important and personal family things I have stored on my computer, which I have backed up elsewhere, but still I would like the safety net of having mirrored. I do have rather a large amount.

I could cheat buy buying a SSD, installing the OS on that and formatting the 2 current drives and create a mirrored storage space, I suppose... but I'd rather not. So, any help would be appreciated. 🙂

 

[JackNaylorPE]

But that really doesn't accomplish anything that simply imaging the drive or just doing backups do ... but without the safety or offsite storage. My system backs up daily to an internal drive and the BlacX daily ... and the BlacX drive leaves the building every day.

 

[USAFRet]

Personally, I think there are better, safer ways of safeguarding the data and OS.
Macrium Reflect drive images, run every night at 2 AM.

A RAID 1 does nothing for an accidental deletion or other mistake, corruption, virus, etc, etc.

 

[Freezersarecool]

But that really doesn't accomplish anything that simply imaging the drive or just doing backups do ... but without the safety or offsite storage. My system backs up daily to an internal drive and the BlacX daily ... and the BlacX drive leaves the building every day.

Well, I certainly don't have anything like the BlacX, but I am beginning to think I may need to rethink my strategy...

 

[Freezersarecool]

Personally, I think there are better, safer ways of safeguarding the data and OS.
Macrium Reflect drive images, run every night at 2 AM.

A RAID 1 does nothing for an accidental deletion or other mistake, corruption, virus, etc, etc.

No, it doesn't. I haven't come across Macrium Reflect itself, although I've seen similar. It looks good and I like the boot option. I am going to rethink things. Let me sleep on it and take a fresh view on it after some shut-eye. It would be one heck of a lot easier just to leave things as they are and use an external source for backup purposes... thanks.

 

[USAFRet]

But that really doesn't accomplish anything that simply imaging the drive or just doing backups do ... but without the safety or offsite storage. My system backs up daily to an internal drive and the BlacX daily ... and the BlacX drive leaves the building every day.

Well, I certainly don't have anything like the BlacX, but I am beginning to think I may need to rethink my strategy...

My C drive is imaged every night at 2AM to another drive in this PC. Keep for 2 weeks, deleting the oldest.
Every Sunday at 3AM, it is imaged to another drive on another PC. Keep for 4 weeks, deleting the oldest.
Other drives with 'just data' are backed up on a similar schedule, but not an 'image'. Just file/folder compare and copy.

Software?
For imaging, Macrium Reflect.
For file/folder copy, SyncBackFree

All automated, across multiple drives.
The last part would be rotating offsite storage. But that is trivial to implement.

 

[Freezersarecool]

But that really doesn't accomplish anything that simply imaging the drive or just doing backups do ... but without the safety or offsite storage. My system backs up daily to an internal drive and the BlacX daily ... and the BlacX drive leaves the building every day.

Well, I certainly don't have anything like the BlacX, but I am beginning to think I may need to rethink my strategy...

My C drive is imaged every night at 2AM to another drive in this PC. Keep for 2 weeks, deleting the oldest.
Every Sunday at 3AM, it is imaged to another drive on another PC. Keep for 4 weeks, deleting the oldest.
Other drives with 'just data' are backed up on a similar schedule, but not an 'image'. Just file/folder compare and copy.

Software?
For imaging, Macrium Reflect.
For file/folder copy, SyncBackFree

All automated, across multiple drives.
The last part would be rotating offsite storage. But that is trivial to implement.

OK, you and Jack have convinced me! I will go with this instead, with some form of portable drive for extra backup, in all likelihood, or I might take your route and back up to another computer on our home network.

Many thanks for the help and offering other views on the matter. Just shows many minds give better results! 🙂