Restore Windows RAID1 After Clean Install

[denakitan]

Hi,

I'm currently running a RAID1 mirrorring on my Windows 8.1 installation. It is not for the system, but for data files.

My system (drive C) is on a SSD and I have two 2TB hard disks in my RAID1 array (drive G) for files.

I need to format my system partition and clean install Windows. Do I need to do anything before formatting my C: to be able to restore the RAID1 array after clean install (disable to miror before doing it, for example)? Or I can simply proceed directly to the format/clean install procedure that I will be able to rebuild my current RAID1 array without problems?

Thanks,
Dennis

 

[WyomingKnott]

Depends on how you RAIDed it. If you did it via the BIOS / UEFI, then in the best of all possible worlds the new Windows installation will just see it as a single device. If you used Windows Device Mangler to mirror them, the new installation should be able to restore the mirrored state, although I have never tried it.

In any case, the advice I always give is to back up the data to an external drive first. Remember, mirroring and backups are different things; even a mirrored drive should be backed up.

 

[denakitan]

Thanks for your response WyomingKnott!

I used Windows Device Manager. OK, I will follow your advice and take the necessary precautions.

 

[WyomingKnott]

Good. If I remember correctly, you had to make the drives dynamic disks / volumes (I forget which is the correct term) before you mirrored them. Any other installation of Windows 7 should be able to read the volume information and reconstruct the volume, but I like backups just in case.

You're welcome.

 

[denakitan]

Just to let anyone in the same situation know that, after clean install, Windows automatically recognized the two hard disks as one RAID1 drive. It spends some time synchronizing them, but I believe it is something Windows does on a regular basis. Conclusion: no action was needed to restore the RAID1 array to the state before the clean install, but as WyomingKnott said, having a backup is always a good idea. Thanks!