Member Avatar for ggeoff

Hi

I have set up a RAID 1 and want to move my data to the RAID and leave applications and the operating system on the non raid drive. I just copied My Documents to the RAID and did a backup before deleting My Documents from the non raid disk. I found that my documents couldn't be found by my applications and found this article: Click Here

The procedure is to go to Start point to My Documents right click and select Properties. Select the Target tag and type in the new path to My Documents. Apparently if you have not moved the folder the system will do so for you. I am wondering what others have done to separate their data to a RAID is this the best solution and is that all the data?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by sheikhali449
JorgeM commented: thanks for the info! +8

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A compact, practical addendum to the thread that builds on 's approach and 's point that RAID 1 is fault-tolerance for hardware failure, not a backup against deletion or corruption.

A safe workflow (non-destructive)

  • Copy files to the RAID while preserving ACLs and timestamps (robocopy is reliable).
  • Rename the original folder so the original path still exists as a fallback.
  • Create an NTFS junction from the old location to the new RAID location so programs that expect the original path keep working.
  • Test applications and indexing. Remove the renamed original only after confirming everything is correct.

Example commands (run elevated)

robocopy "C:\Users\Owner\Documents" "D:\RAID\Data\Owner\Documents" /E /COPYALL /R:3 /W:5
ren "C:\Users\Owner\Documents" Documents.old
mklink /J "C:\Users\Owner\Documents" "D:\RAID\Data\Owner\Documents"

Practical cautions and checks

  • Avoid moving Program Files or AppData; many apps break if those are relocated. Move user data (Documents, Desktop, Downloads, Pictures, Music, Videos, large VM/PST/DB stores) instead.
  • Ensure the RAID volume gets a stable mount point/drive letter. If letter changes the junction breaks.
  • Preserve permissions on copy (robocopy /COPYALL) and re-index Windows Search after moving.
  • Some apps use hard-coded paths; those require per-app reconfiguration.

Verification and recovery

  • Verify integrity with file counts and checksums where feasible (for single files: certutil -hashfile "path" SHA256).
  • Keep regular backups or snapshots. RAID 1 is not a substitute for versioned backups or offline copies.
  • If corruption is suspected (as noted), compare sizes/checksums and consult Event Viewer / run chkdsk on the source and destination disks.

Tying this back to earlier posts: using a redirect (junction) preserves compatibility for apps that expect the old path without relying on per-folder GUI target changes, while robocopy preserves ACLs during the initial migration.

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Member Avatar for JorgeM

So the procedure you outlined is correct. With regard to protecting your data the design is common when the goal is to protect data from a hard drive failure. Keep in mind that the RAID array will not protect against accidental deletion or corruption of a file.

In other designs, typically for servers, the OS is also placed on an array to increase the server's availability by keeping the server operational in the event of a drive failure.

Member Avatar for ggeoff

Thanks JorgeM

I made the post because I had a lot of difficulty finding a solution and thought that others might like to find it more easily.

Member Avatar for JorgeM

Ah, yes I do recall that you had a similar post not too long ago. Thanks for sharing the information.

Member Avatar for sheikhali449

well it seems something is been corrupted in your process.

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