Dual boot Matrix Raid

[xtrmpro66]

Currently I am running 4 drives (320 gigs each) in MATRIX Raid (160 gigs RAID 0/840 gigs RAID 5), Windows XP MCE 2005. I am upgrading my mobo, video card, cpu and mem. I would like to set up dual boot system on the new mobo with XP and Vista Ultimate.

Should I set up dual boot before migrating drives over to new mobo, or wait and just do clean install once I have new components set up? I know that I should partition the RAID 0 drive and install XP first and then Vista. At least I think that is what I should be doing.

Second question: Do I really want to mess with dual boot?
Third question: Best way to prep the drives for a clean install (will dban work on the raid setup, or should I just wait til I do clean install to format and set up the raid array?)

Also, the old mobo is 975xbx2, the new one is x48bt2.

[Malpine Walis]

I have moved drives into other hardware before (not with RAID though). My experience is that if you have the windows CAB files already on the drive before the move, then plug-n-pray should be capable of finding drivers for the new hardware that will at least provide enough function that you will be able to boot up and use the old windows install.

I don't know how RAID would affect the process though. What seems at least possible is that a dedicated RAID card solution could be moved safely as the card is handling the process. If you are doing RAID on the mobo though, remember that you are going to have a hard time setting up a RAID BIOS without the drives being physically present. Then with the drives present, setting up an array will likely wipe the old array.

[tuskenraider]

Currently I am running 4 drives (320 gigs each) in MATRIX Raid (160 gigs RAID 0/840 gigs RAID 5), Windows XP MCE 2005. I am upgrading my mobo, video card, cpu and mem. I would like to set up dual boot system on the new mobo with XP and Vista Ultimate.

Should I set up dual boot before migrating drives over to new mobo, or wait and just do clean install once I have new components set up? I know that I should partition the RAID 0 drive and install XP first and then Vista. At least I think that is what I should be doing. Do a clean install, no reason to have a "dirty" OS install on a new system. Most certainly with new hardware and a dual boot setup.

Second question: Do I really want to mess with dual boot? If you want both OS', go for it.
Third question: Best way to prep the drives for a clean install (will dban work on the raid setup, or should I just wait til I do clean install to format and set up the raid array?)Dban will work, but you should delete the old RAID arrays before pulling the drives off the mobo. Not doing this can cause problems with drive recognition on the new board, something the Dban can clear up, but don't create the hassle for yourself. Then, create the new arrays, format via the Windows install.

Also, the old mobo is 975xbx2, the new one is x48bt2.

[xtrmpro66]

Thanks Tuskenraider, I think I will do clean install, but shouldn't the new Intel mobo pick up on the raid, since I am coming from Intel mobo with RAID?

[nd4spdbh2]

Thanks Tuskenraider, I think I will do clean install, but shouldn't the new Intel mobo pick up on the raid, since I am coming from Intel mobo with RAID?

it should pick up the raid no prob but the fact of the matter is you are undoutedly going to run into problems with the old install on the new mobo, just do a clean install and save yourself the headaches.

[Trap05]

Yep anything else is really a crapshoot

[xtrmpro66]

OK, so I do clean install. When XP asks for my RAID drivers (press <F6>) and then it looks for them on floppy, can I use my USB flash drive?

Also, can I leave my RAID 5 alone? It contains "My documents" from XP with lots of music, photos and videos.

[tuskenraider]

You can't use an USB drive with XP to load drivers. You should be able to plug the drives into the exact same port numbers and have the arrays recognized on the new board. Keep the RAID5, just delete and recreate the RAID0 to start with a clean install.

[MadMan007]

He really shouldn't have to delete and recreate the RAID0 unless he's going to resize it too. Just going though the installation process will format the array. I suppose it couldn't hurt since the Southbridge is different although just an update.

[chawks2]

RAID drives are very easily moved, without having to reinstall Windoze or preferred OS. ALL you need to do is install the driver needed for your chipset BEFORE you move the RAID set.

That's it. As for it being dirty, bah, bunch of garbage in my experience. The only 'dirtyness' comes from having drivers you dont use.

Does anyone realize how much driver crap is installed on a standard 95/98/NT/200x/ME/XP/Vista installation? ;)

[tuskenraider]

Does anyone realize how much driver crap is installed on a standard 95/98/NT/200x/ME/XP/Vista installation? ;)He's basically moving the OS to a whole new PC. I don't have as much faith in MS as you do. Spending the few hours to make sure your new PC is running the best it can with a fresh OS seems like the smart move.

[MadMan007]

Mobo and video card would be the new components. He could always do a driver cleaning for the video at least plus other mobo comonents like Ethernet, upgrading ICHR's shouldn't be too rough it's not as if it's a totally different controller and if he's got the newest drivers installed he already has the ICH9R drivers. This is why the RAID5 ought to be fine. Clean install is a good idea usually but in this case the change isn't all that huge.

[tuskenraider]

New CPU and mem are new as well. ICH is only the southbridge of course and there are different drivers for the actual chipset, whether a 975, P35, etc. Anyone asking advice about installing on OS on a new PC here would overwhelmingly be recommended to do a fresh install. Moving the RAID is just one component of the whole build. If someone wants to have potential problems with an old install on their new pride and joy, well God bless them.

[MadMan007]

CPU and mem have nothing to do with it, anyone who resinstalls because of changes to those components is just a masochist :screwy:

A new install on the RAID0 would still be ideal but I can see how it could be worked around fairly easily since the SB drivers would still be the same, recreating the RAID0 would serve no purpose though.

[shadowdr]

Is Intel so different from AMD that the array if plugged into the same ports would not see the entire array? I have done this several times without installing fresh. With Nvidia the info is on the drives so that a reinstall is not necessary. With the NV arrays once the drives are enabled for raid in bios, the raid bios just sees them. I usually just do a repair install after transfer to a new mobo and processor. I have enough drives so that I can ghost everything anyway if something goes bad but cannot remember needing them before.

[tuskenraider]

Is Intel so different from AMD that the array if plugged into the same ports would not see the entire array? Not at all. The OP did state he wants to partition the RAID0 array to dual boot from it so I'd say a fresh install is about neccessary. Certainly recommended. But since repair/dirty installs seem to be all the rage here, hell, just install the old RAID'ed hard drives on the new mobo, cpu, ram and video card setup. See if you can boot, if not, do a repair install. If you get it to boot, then uninstall the drivers for the old hardware or not(I guess they don't hurt anything from what I hear), then install all the new drivers for the new hardware. Then get some parititioning software and partition off the extra space of the original OS array, then install Vista on the second partition. Presto......a brand spanking new system with minimal effort.

[xtrmpro66]

OK, so here is what I did--

I created a bootable XP CD with this guide: Sata/RAID driver integration (http://www.msfn.org/board/Integration-of-Intel-Sata-and-Raid-drive-t107504.html) (since I had no floppy).

I used Drive cleanser, which is part of Acronis TI 11, to wipe the C: drive (the RAID 0 array). I used the recovery cd with the safemode plugin that I had created for Acronis.

I did not touch my RAID arrays. I uninstalled drives from the old mobo, making a note of which SATA connector each drive was plugged into, and labeling them SATA 0, SATA 1, etc..., and put the new components together, reinstalling the drives into the corresponding SATA connectors.

After all components and drives were installed, I went into Bios and configured RAID. Upon reboot, my arrays were visible and I loaded XP. The only thing I did not like was that my drive letters got all messed up so I went into regedit and changed the drives back around to what I like them to be. This must have confused Windows because I had to reinstall XP, but upon reboot my drives were back to normal.

Also, when I reinstalled XP I partitioned C: so that I could install Vista on the second partition. Everything is good so far, just want to get XP stable and up to date and I will image that with Acronis and then move into phase 2: installing Vista.

Will let you know how that goes. Thanks for all the input so far!

DAve