XPpro and Disk Management + Raid?

1.Must DM be used to "initialize" all Raid environments?

2.I'm using P4C800-E deluxe with onboard ICH5+R and Promise controller, Do I need to use DM when using Raid & Promise?

3.Should I be using "Dynamic Disc" and if so, why?TIA

1. Typically, all added arrays either need to be configured(partitioned and formatted(possibly initialized depending on disk status)) through either Disk Management or using a third party or DOS application. DM is typically faster than most of the alternatives.

2. If it's to be the OS disk, it will be initialized, partitioned and formatted by the installation process. If it's an additional array and not installed during setup, then yes.

3. No, dynamic disks are good for some special cases with drive management and for software RAID systems. Outside of those limited areas, I would avoid it. It cannot be read outside of Windows environments and can complicate those tasks as well. It will prevent you from using Drive Imaging solutions like Ghost or Drive Image to create backup images as well.