Two questions about RAID 1 setup

[Guest]

My system currently has two RAID1 arrays - one is the bootable volume of 2x80GB, the other is 2x500GB for storage only.

I need to reformat and reinstall XP Pro on the first one. I would like to avoid making any changes to the second one (2x500GB storage) if possible.

#1 Do I need to install my 3rd party RAID driver as I did the first time BEFORE reinstalling XP Pro, or can I skip this step since it is already installed?

#2 If I unplug the two 500GB drives, then reinstall XP Pro on the first two, again as a RAID1 bootable volume, can I then plug the other two back in and use the data they contain?

Thanks for your help.

 

[treefrog07]

My system currently has two RAID1 arrays - one is the bootable volume of 2x80GB, the other is 2x500GB for storage only.

I need to reformat and reinstall XP Pro on the first one. I would like to avoid making any changes to the second one (2x500GB storage) if possible. When you reformat the HDD the RAID driver will no longer be available to the installation.

#1 Do I need to install my 3rd party RAID driver as I did the first time BEFORE reinstalling XP Pro, or can I skip this step since it is already installed? Yes, use the F6 key as you did before and then install the RAID driver you need from the floppy drive. There is program called nlite that let's you slipstream windows servicepacks, updates, and drivers (including the RAID driver) and tweak your WinXP installtion settings, which you can then save as image (.iso), and "burn" to a cd using third-party software like Nero or Roxio. This lets you install XP without a floppy drive by incorporating the driver into the XP installation cd.

#2 If I unplug the two 500GB drives, then reinstall XP Pro on the first two, again as a RAID1 bootable volume, can I then plug the other two back in and use the data they contain? Yes, but you don not have to unplug them - just don't choose that volume (shown as a drive in windows setup) as the windows installation drive.

Thanks for your help.

see above.