Member Avatar for Ali_46

Hi folks! Need urgent help please!

I'm looking to replace my regular windows 7 boot HDD with a faster SSD and upgrading to windows 10. I also have three other drives striped in a raid0 configuration that hold a great deal of important data.

So will replacing my current windows 7 HDD and upgrading to windows 10 using a SSD compromise my raid0 drives and all files therein? I have no hardware/software expertise so don't want to do something I will regret later. Please help!

  • 4 Contributors
  • 7 Replies
  • 313 Views
  • 1 Week Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by IntegratedTweak

Dani AI

Generated

A short technical addendum to the good points already raised by , , and .

Whether the SSD + Windows 10 work will “kill” the RAID0 depends on how the stripe was created. There are three common cases: a dedicated hardware RAID controller, a motherboard/firmware RAID (Intel/AMD “firmware” or so‑called fakeraid), or Windows software RAID (dynamic disks / Storage Spaces). Each behaves differently when you change the boot drive or install a new OS, so identify which one is in use before making changes.

Practical checks and safe practices:

  • Identify the RAID type first: look in your motherboard/UEFI RAID utility at boot, check Device Manager for Intel/AMD RAID drivers, or open Disk Management to see if the member disks are “Dynamic.”
  • If the array is firmware/hardware RAID, keep the controller mode and drivers consistent (same RAID mode in UEFI, same vendor driver) so the array can be reassembled. If the array is Windows dynamic, a new Windows install will usually present the disks as “Foreign” and you must use Disk Management > Import Foreign Disks rather than initializing them.
  • Prefer installing Windows 10 clean onto the SSD (with the system configured to the same SATA/controller mode), or if cloning, use a cloning tool that handles SSD alignment and boot records. Never allow Windows Setup or Disk Management to initialize or create volumes on the RAID member disks — that will overwrite RAID metadata.

If the array does not show up afterward, check the motherboard RAID utility for array health, confirm controller drivers (Intel RST/AMD) are installed, and ensure drives are on the same controller/ports. Because RAID0 has no redundancy, a verified backup is the best protection; if metadata gets overwritten recovery is difficult and may require specialist tools or services.

Recommended Answers

All 7 Replies

Member Avatar for rubberman

Assuming that the boot/system drive is not on the RAID, then it should not be a problem. That said, you may want to disconnect the RAID before you do the update, "just in case". Unlike Linux systems, you NEVER know exactly what Windows will do in these situations.

Member Avatar for rproffitt

Wait, wait, don't tell me. Did you just reveal that you don't have a backup of those drives? It appears that is the first order of business.

Member Avatar for Ali_46

True, first order of business is always to make backups. So that needs to happen. Today. Thanks for the concern rproffitt :)

Member Avatar for rubberman

Sometimes a raid array has so much data that backups are not feasible, which is why I suggested disconnecting the RAID before the update. RAID0 however, is basically a mirrored disc, so backups only need one drive that is as big as one of the RAID devices. My RAID arrays are all RAID5, which is why I was thinking what I did. Backing up 8+TB of space is not always feasible. :-)

Edited by rubberman
commented: While it's OK advice the number of times I've seen folk lose it all is too many. If backup is not feasible then my advice is don't do this. +6
Member Avatar for Ali_46

Rubberman, your recommendation of disconnecting the raid0 drives during upgrading and installing a new system boot drive and operating system is an excellent idea. I shall definitely do that. Just to be clear, my raid0 drives aren't mirrored; they're striped (no mirroring, parity, and hence no redundancy).

Just to double-check: After fitting in the new SSD boot drive and installing the windows 10 operating system and reconnecting the raid0 drives, all the raid data will come back to as it was, correct?

So the stripe (raid0) configuration data is stored within the physical raid0 drives and not in the boot drive or anywhere else?

Member Avatar for rubberman

Yes. Your data should be ok after updating the OS. Make sure you disconnect the drives when the system is shut down, before the upgrade. After the upgrade, shut the system down again, attact the array, and then power it back up. The OS should see the array and install the appropriate "new hardware" drivers.

Member Avatar for IntegratedTweak

An external 1 or 2TB hard drive should back up your data just in case something weird starts to happen.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.