If you do as I suggested, it should all work. Since your old HDD is already Partitioned and Formatted with files on it, IGNORE my note about having to use Disk Management to do those tasks. It should be recognized as soon as you install it (step #9 in my post) and be visible in My Computer.
If you choose to remove the older HDD and then re-install it from time to time there should be no problem. That's an unusual way to do things, but it still ought to work.
To use AHCI you do NOT need to make any special changes or slipstream anything. VISTA has the AHCI device drivers built in already. You do NOT need to install drivers from a floppy disk or anything else.
AHCI is just a protocol (set of rules for communication with the device) for the OS to use the HDD unit. It has better features than the older PATA system, so it is preferred for new SATA drives capable of working under that system.
RAID is actually a whole group of very different ways of organizing data on multiple (2 or more) HDD units for various purposes. One of its dilemmas, though, is that there are MANY slightly different versions of how it is done. They differ at the level of how the hardware controllers use the HDD's, and that also requires some cooperation with the OS. So, the OS MUST have a driver for the RAID system installed in it (like any other driver for a "device") that is specifically written for the particular RAID system you are using. NO version of Windows has RAID drivers built in - to use RAID in any form you DO have to install the correct RAID driver. And that means if you want to be able to BOOT from a RAID array, you need to follow particular installation procedures at the time of first installing the OS so that the required drivers are added into the right place in the OS being installed. Otherwise how could it access the HDD to boot from?
First piece of advice: do NOT leap into RAID of any kind until you read up on it and understand it well enough. You MAY (probably will) need to understand enough to fix it from time to time because the systems are more complex, require more attention to set up and maintain, and sometimes are more prone to failure, than any simple HDD system.
VERY briefly, here are the main types of RAID systems.
RAID0 uses two matched HDD units (sometimes more) and alternately splits pieces of every file between the two drives. This can give a speed advantage because one drive can be writing or reading data while the other drive is still searching for the next piece. But sometimes the speed advantage is small over today's fast HDD units. The disadvantage / risk is that BOTH drives must work flawlessly, because every file is broken up and a failure of one HDD unit in the array means ALL of the data is lost. RAID0 array users REALLY need to do proper data backups well! In a RAID0 array, the total array capacity is the sum of the HDD units' capacity.
RAID1 uses two matched HDD units also, but uses the second one to be an exact mirror copy of the first one. So if one HDD fails or has bad data, there is an instantly-available copy on the other drive to use. A complete restoration of the array, including a complete replacement of the failed HDD unit, can be done at a later time and even in the background as normal work progresses. This system works well in places where no downtime it tolerable. However, some people mistakenly use this system as an "automatic backup" which it is not. The combined capacity of a RAID1 array is that of ONE of its disks only, so it costs twice as much per GB as a single independent HDD.
RAID5 is a system that uses at least 3 HDD units (the classic form is 5) that should be matched. It takes every chunk of data written to the array, breaks it up, and does some mathematical processing to get a new additional piece of info, then writes all of these to separate HDD units in the array. The extra data calculated is such that, if any one of the pieces of data is corrupted (by a disk error or failure), the remaining pieces can be used to regenerate the original data with NO errors. It is thus called a "fault-tolerant" system because it can survive HDD errors without losing any data. In fact, if one HDD unit in the array fails, it can be replaced and the entire data set completely regenerated from the remaining good drives. This takes a lot of time and processing power, but it does work. To do this, however, takes more processing at all stages, so RAID5 systems typically have slower performance than individual HDD's. Moreover, if TWO HDD's in the array fail simultaneously (I have seen this once) the automatic data restoration cannot be done and all is lost. One more reason for doing backups properly. In a RAID5 system, the total data capacity of the array is only 80% or less of the total capacity of all its component HDD units.
RAID6 is much less common, but it is a step better than RAID5. Is is a further extension of the RAID5 concept in which additional data are calculated and stored (this takes more time and HDD space) from the original data. The result is that this system CAN recover from simultaneous failure of TWO HDD units in the array. Typically it uses 6 HDD units in one array, and makes available only 65% or so of the combined capacity of all its component units.
Regarding OS type and RAM:
Any 32-bit OS can only address memory up to 4 GB. You cannot possibly use more RAM than that with a 32-bit OS (unless you do some very special things most users cannot do). Moreover, some of that memory space - the part used for video (even if it is RAM on your video card) plus the part of real on-board RAM reserved for use by the OS itself - will not be available for applications to use. So a system with 4 GB of RAM and a 32-bit OS will actually have for general use something like 2.8 to 3.4 GB, depending on the size of your video card's memory.
On the other hand, a 64-bit OS can address vastly more memory space than you could possibly mount in a machine today. That means you CAN install more than 4 GB of RAM (if your mobo and wallet will let you) and it will ALL be available except for about 0.3 to 0.5 GB reserved for the OS itself. The memory space on your video card will NOT affect the RAM space you can use.
As for the advice to remove some RAM while first installing your 32-bit OS and then re-install it later, I can't explain why that is necessary in a few cases. But I guess it can't hurt and might help you avoid some odd problem. IF you do this, I suggest you do it this way:
If your 4 GB of RAM is in two sticks, just remove one of them. Consult your mobo manual and make sure the single installed stick is in the correct slot.
If your RAM is 4 x 1GB sticks, remove two of them. BUT again consult your mobo manual and make sure the two installed sticks are in the correct slots to enable what is called dual-channel memory mode.
After you have installed the OS, shut down and re-install the RAM you removed. when you start up again it will recognize the change and just work. Then you can proceed with updates, application software installation, etc.
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