Installing XP on raided hard drive (2 500 gigs)

[Nikato]

So I got a new computer but the guys installed windows to the wrong Hard Drive. I ordered three with the computer. Two 500 gigs which are raided and an 80 gig which I planned on taking out and replacing with a 300gig that has all the files from my old computer on it. Well, they put windows on the 80 gig, so I can't just take that out without reinstalling windows so thats what im just gonna do.

Now, heres my question. A person on GameFaqs said that I can install windows xp on a raided hard drive, but that i'll need a RAID boot disk. What exactly is that? I got a motherboard disk with my computer, and looking in the files I found something about Raiding. Is that what he means? Will I have to do something with that disc after I reinstall windows (i plan on putting in all the discs after my comp is reinstalled anyways) to re-raid my hard drives, or will they still be raided?

Sorry if the question is hard to follow, but im concerned here, as i'd rather not mess up my computer because I didn't know exactly what I was doing.

[DimaYasny]

what you need is to create a driver floppy with the raid controller drivers (the infamous F6 disk) and hit F6 when the system prompts you to do so, insert the floppy and the driver will go in.
brand name systems (well at leaste the servers) provide you with a bootable CD that loads the drivers into memory and lets you install the system without a floppy. you can also look for a utility that will either slipstream the driver into your distribution disk, or format a flash drive so it can be used instead of a floppy drive

[hughv]

What's the obsession with RAID?
I assume you're talking about RAID 1 or RAID 0.
Check out this article and do a little more research before tackling this project:
Why RAID Is (Usually) a Terrible Idea
http://www.pugetsystems.com/articles.php?id=29

[DimaYasny]

for home computing only raid0 makes sense (if you are backing things up all the time, that is). and anyhow if you're using raid for performance, a proper controller should be used. the onboard ones are fakeraid, meaning they still use the resources of your system, instead of having their own. a proper controller will have it's own memory, it's own battery and sometimes even it's own power supply. those, naturally are very expensive, and are rarely seen in a home environment

[Nikato]

@hughv: My system came with Raid so I'd rather keep it with it on.

@DimaYasny: How do I know if I have a proper controller or not? I believe its in raid zero atm, i can double check. I know its being ran off something from NVIDIA, is that what you mean by having a proper controller?

Also, I don't have a floppy drive. I didn't have one installed. I suppose I could get one, but it seems doing it with a flash drive would be easier since I have one. Is it a hard process to do?

[DimaYasny]

nvidia you say? then it's just fakeraid. afaik they do not make real raid controllers.

as for the setup, your motherboard cd should have all the utilities

[Nikato]

Yeah I was checking out the CD and saw that it did have the files on it.

So now I have two questions for you if you don't mind answering (you've been a great help so far).

One, do i format my thumb drive (its 560 something megs) and then put it in my comp and create the disk by extracting the image to the thumb drive.

and

Two, when during the windows xp set up will it ask for the raid files? Should I just leave my flash drive in there the whole time or what. Thanks!

[DimaYasny]

One, do i format my thumb drive (its 560 something megs) and then put it in my comp and create the disk by extracting the image to the thumb drive.

there should be a utility there that will format the flash drive the right way. it's not just extracting, but the fact that the computer has to see the flashdrive as drive A, and the files should be with the right names and folders.

Two, when during the windows xp set up will it ask for the raid files? Should I just leave my flash drive in there the whole time or what. Thanks!

right in the beginning of the setup, as the screen turns to blue background (still not graphical) there will be a prompt to press F6 in order to install additional device drivers

[Nikato]

Wow, you are a great help. Okay, so after I put the image onto my thumb drive this is what I do right?

1.) Remove/unplug my current C drive (the 80gig)
2.) Go into the BIOS, make sure its set to boot from CD and change my Raided drives to ran first (thought i shouldn't matter since the 80gig is gone now)
3.) Start up the computer, it will ask for windows XP cd, put it in.
4.) Hit F6 to install the raid drivers
5.) Finish the rest of the Installation from the Windows XP disk.

Is that about right in the process? If so, then I think I can do it. And after windows installs itself, I should run all the disks that I got with it to be safe right?

Thanks again man.

[DimaYasny]

something like that, yeah
you might want to have a look in the bios setup, to see if it has a floppy emulation option for USB drives

[Nikato]

Alright I will. I changed the letter recognition for my flash drive to A in device management. Now im checking my computer to make sure that it is a 32bit windows xp. I think it is, just double checking.

After that, I'll try this out. If my computer doesn't have floppy emulation, will this not work? Also, if I do screw up I can just plug back in my old HDD and reformat my raid ones right?

[Nikato]

I didn't see anything about usb emulation. Does that meant this wont work?

[DimaYasny]

not sure, but you have nothing to lose by trying it :)

last time I set up a home PC it was my laptop a few months ago. Ask me about a proper server, LOL :)

[Nikato]

Lol. Well alright, i'll give a shot here in a minute after I put the raid files onto the flash drive. I'll let you know if it works.

[DimaYasny]

yup, and if that doesn't work - just switch the drives into IDE mode - windows will pick that up easy enough. no raid though