[SOLVED] RAID 0 Disk No Longer Member

[TDSoYS]

Hello,

Following a restart after a Windows 10 update (more on that below for reference), one of the two disks in my RAID 0 setup has somehow fallen out of the array. My computer still detects both disks, but the RAID configuration utility lists one of the two disks as a Non-Member disk, which breaks the array, per this picture

https://imgur.com/a/XSwUPAu

View: https://imgur.com/a/XSwUPAu
.

I'm wondering if there is a simple way to rebuild the array. I tried creating a raid volume (option 1), but was informed there wasn't enough room. My next thought would be to either delete the array (option 2) or reset the disks (option 3), followed by recreating the array. However, I'm not sure which might increase the chance of recovering data (the ideal thing would be to simply rebuild/reset the array to what it had been, giving me the ability to boot and go on like nothing happened).

Is something like the above possible? Or would it be better, for data recovery purposes, to simply pull the drives and try and recover any data, then put them back in this computer and start from scratch?

For background, I got the prompt to install a Windows 10 update earlier this week. When turning my computer back in the following day, my computer stalled out during the windows splash screen. This has pretty much always happened since swirching to 10, and is normally solved with a simple restart. However, following the restart thia time I got a prompt that there was no OS detected. Working backwards I found this issue with my RAID 0 array.

 

[jeremyj_83]

Once a RAID 0 array breaks you lose all the data. A rebuild of the array means wiping the array and starting over. You cannot pull the disks and recover either since data is spread across the whole array. In your case a program will be half installed on disk A and half on disk B and there is no way to know what the lost parts are. The lack of redudency is the curse of RAID 0, you double your performance, but you increase your chances of drive loss.

 

[USAFRet]

Striped data in a RAID 0 can't be 'recovered' when one member fails.

This is when you recover from the backup you made before this happened.

 

[TDSoYS]

Thanks!

Figured that was the case, but didn't know if there was any exception about being able to recover data when everything is still physically intact, but the array just magically disassembled itself (vs. an instance where a drive physically fails and needs to be replaced). I have read about people pulling the drivea and hooking them up to another computer, then using various data recover toola to grab anything that wasn't backed up. Just didn't know how rebuilding the array would mess with that.

Somewhat random followup question. I upgraded to Windows 10 back when they offered free upgrades from 7, but cant recall ever getting a CD key. Anyone know what to do about that when reinstalling everything?

 

[USAFRet]

Somewhat random followup question. I upgraded to Windows 10 back when they offered free upgrades from 7, but cant recall ever getting a CD key. Anyone know what to do about that when reinstalling everything?

You now have a "digital entitlement". Not a license key, as such.

A reinstall on this same hardware incurs no activation issues, nor requires a license key to be entered during the install.

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

And unless you have specifc needs, don't bother with a RAID 0. Especially for the OS drive.

 

[popatim]

Try shutting the PC off and then turning it back on. This sometimes will get the array to be detected properly but it really depends on what issue the drive had to be dropped.

 

[fzabkar]

There are free tools which can rebuild a RAID, or determine its parameters.

http://www.freeraidrecovery.com/download.aspx

https://linux.die.net/man/8/mdadm

Index of /pub/linux/utils/raid/mdadm/

DMDE can also autodetect your RAID parameters. It will construct a virtual RAID which you can then clone to a backup drive, or you can recover individual files/folders.

About DMDE (DM Disk Editor and Data Recovery Software)

DMDE is a powerful disk editing and data recovery tool. For FREE you can recover up to 4000 files from a chosen directory. Leader 2024

dmde.com

https://dmde.com/manual/raids.html

 

[TDSoYS]

There are free tools which can rebuild a RAID, or determine its parameters.

http://www.freeraidrecovery.com/download.aspx

https://linux.die.net/man/8/mdadm

Index of /pub/linux/utils/raid/mdadm/

DMDE can also autodetect your RAID parameters. It will construct a virtual RAID which you can then clone to a backup drive, or you can recover individual files/folders.

About DMDE (DM Disk Editor and Data Recovery Software)

DMDE is a powerful disk editing and data recovery tool. For FREE you can recover up to 4000 files from a chosen directory. Leader 2024

dmde.com

https://dmde.com/manual/raids.html

Thanks! I have heard of similar ways to do virtual RAID setups that can help in recovering data. What I wasn't sure of is if trying to rebuild the array first (or just similarly messing with any of the RAID control panel settings) would doom any chance of those options being viable. Most of my files are backed up in some form, but they aren't as current as those on the RAID array, so if I could recover them in some form it would save me time getting them current.

I've opted to do a clean install on an SSD (I went with a RAID setup because SSDs were extremely expensive if you wanted any kind of meaningful storage capacity back when I built this PC). My thought is to get everything running on this setup, then try to recover any useful data off the other drives. After that, they just become bonus storage or something.

 

[fzabkar]

The first free tool will find your RAID parameters -- drive order, offset, stripe size. You can then assemble a virtual RAID in DMDE using these parameters, and recover the files to another drive. DMDE can also autodetect the RAID parameters, but its user interface is not as friendly.