setting up a raid

ive read a guide or two about how to set up guides but one thing confuses me, can you only set them up when installing windows?

Not if your just adding additional drives and setting them up in RAID. For example you have one 40 GB drive with windows XP installed on it and then you add two 60GB drives and set up those two in RAID you will not need to reinstall windows.

If you are wanting to put windows on a RAID 0 array then you will need to reinstall. For example the following situation: you have a 60GB drive with windows already on it and you want to add another 60GB drive and set them up in RAID 0 (striping). Then you will need to reinstall.

If you are wanting to add one more harddrive and make a RAID 1 (mirroring) array you will not need to reinstall.

k, thanks.