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i just ordered this computer form xotic pc its going to be here tomorrow and i had some questions about RAID 0 thanks! computer link------> http://www.xoticpc.com/msi-gt780dx40...wconfigure=yes
the only thing i changed was i upgraded the ram and added a blu-ray player along with the extra hard drive.
I have 2 harddrives that are the same-
- Primary Hard Drive: 750GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache Buffer (Serial-ATA II 3GB/s) - Default - Second Hard Drive: 750GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache Buffer (Serial-ATA II 3GB/s)
I added the second hard drive so i can enable RAID 0. From what i understand after raid 0 is enabled from the bios everything from the hard drives including windows will be erased. the 1st thing i need to know is, is enabling RAID 0 only capable from the bios and if not what is the easiest way?
I also ordered a recovery disk from xoticpc. I was told 2 different things from 2 different people from the xoticpic chat
The 1st person told me even though i have the recovery disk i still have to install windows from a different source. i was told i CAN NOT install windows from the recovery disk i bought from xoticpc. Is this true? If it is how do i go about installing windows from a different source? Do i have to install the same windows that came with the computer. For example Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit is what comes pre-installed on my laptop. Now my roommate has the windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit disk. If i have to install from a different source can i use his windows 7 ultimate disk? if i cannot how do i go about re installing windows 7?
-OR-
The 2nd person i talked to said all i have to do is just insert the recovery disk i bought from exotic pc and re-install windows 7 from the recovery disk after raid 0 is enabled is this true?
please help if you can my computer is going to be here tomorrow..(I'm sooo excieted!!! and want to get this figured out before tomorrw so i can spend the day gaming!!!! )
THANKS!
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You can't install Windows from a recovery disk. I don't think you can "repair" it to convert it to RAID 0 without reinstalling either. Unless you have a dedicated physical RAID setup (such as an Arco RAID), I believe you can only do it from the BIOS. For example, An Arco RAID is a little chassis that holds your two HDDs and has a connector in the back that connects to your MOBO, appearing as one HDD afaik. Then you install Arco software that lets you configure your RAID from within Windows. Anyway, you don't have something like that, so BIOS it is. You are probably best off torrenting a Windows 7 Premium 64-bit ISO and burning it to a disk, then reinstalling, using your current product key after having configured RAID 0 from your BIOS.
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On February 20 2012 04:57 Grobyc wrote: You can't install Windows from a recovery disk. I don't think you can "repair" it to convert it to RAID 0 without reinstalling either. Unless you have a dedicated physical RAID setup (such as an Arco RAID), I believe you can only do it from the BIOS. For example, An Arco RAID is a little chassis that holds your two HDDs and has a connector in the back that connects to your MOBO, appearing as one HDD afaik. Then you install Arco software that lets you configure your RAID from within Windows. Anyway, you don't have something like that, so BIOS it is. You are probably best off torrenting a Windows 7 Premium 64-bit ISO and burning it to a disk, then reinstalling, using your current product key after having configured RAID 0 from your BIOS. No i do not have a Arco RAID or any other physical RAID setup. Ok so then installing windows from my roommates disk will not work?? can i make a download of my windows 7 before i enable raid 0. i really don't want to torrent anything. so what the easiest thing to do without doing that? if i can copy the windows 7 form the laptop before hand can i use a usb flash drive or do i have to used dvds or cds?
and if i can't use the recovery disk for rein-staling windows what is it for? lol i was made to believe that's what it was for...
thanks for your help
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There are some Windows installlation DVDs that allow you to choose from a selection of different Windows 7 types, but if your roommates disk is just Win 7 Ultimate then no, you can't use it. As far as I know, you can't rip an installation from an installed operating system, so you'll need to take a look at something like http://support.microsoft.com/kb/326246 and get a new DVD from Microsoft or a friend for your Premium 64-bit if you don't want to torrent one. If you were able to get a copy of the ISO electronically, yes, you can put it on your USB drive and boot from it to reinstall Windows. See http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-install-windows-7vista-from-usb-drive-detailed-100-working-guide/ for instructions on that.
The recovery disk is for repairing your installation. Things like a missing boot manager, or master boot record. It also allows you to system restore to a previous backup, run diagnostics, and open a command prompt for more specific, detailed tasks.
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On February 20 2012 06:23 Grobyc wrote:There are some Windows installlation DVDs that allow you to choose from a selection of different Windows 7 types, but if your roommates disk is just Win 7 Ultimate then no, you can't use it. As far as I know, you can't rip an installation from an installed operating system, so you'll need to take a look at something like http://support.microsoft.com/kb/326246 and get a new DVD from Microsoft or a friend for your Premium 64-bit if you don't want to torrent one. If you were able to get a copy of the ISO electronically, yes, you can put it on your USB drive and boot from it to reinstall Windows. See http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-install-windows-7vista-from-usb-drive-detailed-100-working-guide/ for instructions on that. The recovery disk is for repairing your installation. Things like a missing boot manager, or master boot record. It also allows you to system restore to a previous backup, run diagnostics, and open a command prompt for more specific, detailed tasks.
oh ok thanks for your help this actually really clears this up for me!
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No problem, hope everything works out
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Windows 7 installation DVDs are mostly the same. You can install all versions from it, you only need a proper key for activation. You can even use 32bit keys for 64bit installations, and the other way around.
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NOTE: I'm more of a server guy than gaming performance nut, so just my $.02.
I'd actually recommend against using motherboard RAID. It's known as fake raid for a reason; it sucks. It takes the performance out of CPU rather than a dedicated RAID controller. Also, if the motherboard bites the dust, you will likely never be able to reconstruct the RAID. You'd likely need the exact same motherboard, as the exact version of the onboard chip is nigh impossible to find out. Flashing the BIOS or any number of things could also break the onboard RAID controller's compatibility for the array. I've heard plenty of horror stories of fake raid going wrong and nuking itself, though these likely won't happen with RAID 0.
I don't know if Windows can do software RAID, but I'd look at either hardware RAID (real RAID) or software RAID (still taxes CPU, but easy to reconstruct if something breaks; all you'd need is the same version of Windows).
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/36504/how-to-create-a-software-raid-array-in-windows-7/ You'd want striped RAID (haven't read article, just googled). I'm not sure if Win7 can actually be installed to software RAID though. More googling will likely be necessary.
Real hardware RAID would be best.
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First of all RAID 0 on mechnical sata disk it just waste of time and money. Just buy an SSD, that beats any sata mechnical disks, (Exception on SAS disks)
Second if you have configured RAID 0 at the bios... it just setups on the raid... this doesnt mean you can install on the raid 0. Therefor you need Raid drivers for windows. Check where your drives will be attached (motherbord = ahci/raid etc drivers) or a dedicated raidcard. (need drivers also)
Third. software raid is trash... only in certain specific circumstances can be usefull...
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of course you can install windows onto a software(bios) raid. you have to specify the drivers (F6 i think it was) during the setup, which you can get from either the mainboard driver cd or their website.
if you have an old ide drive lying around and your board supports it, then there's one much simpler way around your problem: -plug the ide drive in, and clone your sata disk onto it with smt like ghost or clonezilla. -boot from the ide (set it in bios as first boot device) to see if win still boots. -set up your bios raid, then boot from the ide again, to install the drivers once windows is booted. check that you can actually see the softraid in your windows. -clone the ide back onto your new raid, unplug, set raid device as first boot, job done.
why an ide ? thing is: most bios (atleast every one i've worked with) do not support a mixed raid/compatible/ahci environment. it's either raid, or *insertyourchoice*, that for all sata devices connected to the controller that are harddisks.
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