Help how do I retrieve files if I can't repair in Raid?

[micsim749]

Ok this is all ironic because I was planning on putting in my new mobo today which I ended up doing. What happend with my other mobo was I was getting alot of graphic corruption and freezes with cheap memory(corsair value) so I decided to go AM2 because memory was so much cheaper for it as was the cpu. When I played BF2 my last time on my old computer it froze causing a restart but this time I get this message:

"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt.
<windows root>\system32\ntoskrnl.exe.
Please re-install a copy of the above file."

I google this and went to the micrsoft support page which had different methods but out off all of them none worked. I think its because my harddrives are in Raid0 and windows repair cant detect them. So how do I get my important files back if my drives are in raid0?
When I was trying to repair windows at start up raid was healthy. I have alot of important files which i need so please help.

[-=Antimatter=-]

I don't have any suggestions since I don't run RAID, but

"I have alot of important files which i need"

Means that you really shouldn't be running RAID0 without at least one backup of your data.

[djnes]

I'm not pointing this directly at you, but I still have to laugh when I see people complianing about this problem in RAID0 arrays. Why anyone still uses this over-hyped configuration, I'll never know. When you rebuild, ditch the array, and just use a good single drive.

Just so it's not just a trolling post, if you have Ghost, you can fix it, depending on your chipset. You may have to add the controller drivers, but if you use BartPE and Ghost, you can make an image of the array, and then use Ghost Explorer to extract your important files.

[zacdl]

I've gotta second djnes...

Just cuz someone came up with the idea to call it RAID 0 and give you the ability to stripe drives, doesn't mean you should use it.

Whatever person that chose to call RAID 0, well, RAID, didn't think that through very well at all.

RAID 0 is good for stuff you don't care about that takes up large amounts of space. Movies for example. Once you burn one off, you have a backup of it...

To the problem at hand... Have you tried replacing the file it asks for (although if it can't find that one it's probably missing a few more), or can you not access anything on the drives because the system that it was running on is no longer?

[micsim749]

To the problem at hand... Have you tried replacing the file it asks for (although if it can't find that one it's probably missing a few more), or can you not access anything on the drives because the system that it was running on is no longer?

I tried repairing but windows won't detect the drives in RAID 0 so how else can I replacing the file? Can I get it online and put it on a floppy? On my new computer I used a spare Sata2 driver for windows XP and I hooked the two drives that were in RAID O on my old pc. I went in windows explore to see if I could explore the drivers but it asks me to format them. Why is that, can't I just open the drives and get my files?

[MrMitch]

you can't open the drives because essentally half of each file in on a disk. You need a raid controller and raid drivers for the computer to intellegently recombine each half. Thats where the performance gain is, and the huge risk.

You need to get the RAID drivers on a floppy, and during the repair reinstall option hit f6 to add your raid driver to windows setup, then windows can see the raid and you ****might**** be able to salvage it.

[zacdl]

you can't open the drives because essentally half of each file in on a disk. You need a raid controller and raid drivers for the computer to intellegently recombine each half. Thats where the performance gain is, and the huge risk.

You need to get the RAID drivers on a floppy, and during the repair reinstall option hit f6 to add your raid driver to windows setup, then windows can see the raid and you ****might**** be able to salvage it.

Yep...

If that doesn't work, your only other option might be to use a backup recovery program that would get your data off there (The fact being RAID0 makes it a ton harder though).

A lesson learned, I guess. I think everyone has to crash and burn like you may have to learn a lesson about backup...

[djnes]

You need to get the RAID drivers on a floppy, and during the repair reinstall option hit f6 to add your raid driver to windows setup, then windows can see the raid and you ****might**** be able to salvage it.
Yep, this will work to let you run a repair install. In theory, it should work....but as mentioned, having the array just makes it more difficult.

[micsim749]

you can't open the drives because essentally half of each file in on a disk. You need a raid controller and raid drivers for the computer to intellegently recombine each half. Thats where the performance gain is, and the huge risk.

You need to get the RAID drivers on a floppy, and during the repair reinstall option hit f6 to add your raid driver to windows setup, then windows can see the raid and you ****might**** be able to salvage it.

Yep...

If that doesn't work, your only other option might be to use a backup recovery program that would get your data off there (The fact being RAID0 makes it a ton harder though).

A lesson learned, I guess. I think everyone has to crash and burn like you may have to learn a lesson about backup...

So all I have to do is install the raid drivers before I use the repair option? I am using my new motherboard now so will that matter or do I have to use the old mobo?

For the backup recovery program, which one should I use that will recover from RAID 0?

And yes Im done with RAID 0. I see not speed increase anyway and it just double risk of data lost. But remember my drives are fine it's just windows got corrupted like it would on one drive.

[Nasty_Savage]

Yes, the problem is your windows disk does not have the Raid Controller's drivers to do the repair. The f6 function as mentioned above will do the trick.

[zacdl]

So all I have to do is install the raid drivers before I use the repair option? I am using my new motherboard now so will that matter or do I have to use the old mobo?
I guess I should just explain why you install the RAID drivers...

When you boot to the OS disk, your purpose is to eventually do something to the hard drive(s). But when it can't see it (as in your case), one of the first things you have to do is install a driver for your disks so the setup program knows how to interface with your drives.
I tried to put that as simply as I could, but that's what the purpose of the suggestion is.

And yes Im done with RAID 0. I see not speed increase anyway and it just double risk of data lost. But remember my drives are fine it's just windows got corrupted like it would on one drive.

Can't help you on backup, as I have never used RAID 0 for obvious reasons...

But RAID0 doesn't nessesarily double the risk of your data loss. The only purpose of it is to turn 2+ hard drives into a single one (generally speaking).
If your RAID 0 crashes, you lose everything. If a single hard drive crashes, you lose everything.

So it doesn't make things worse (actually a bit better, considering you would have half the file rather than no file- which doesn't help you out much).

What you need to do is turn the RAID 0 (depending how much space on each drive, how much you use, etc) into a RAID 1. RAID 1 is disk mirroring- the two disks will be identical. Doesn't help you much against software problems (if files get corrupted on one- they are corrupted on both), but hardware problems mean you have a great backup copy.

Ideally, run RAID 1, and have a third disk for only your data. You'll be protected from hardware failure by the RAID 1, and through normal backups you will be protected from data failure by that third disk you've been backing up to.

[william_fontaine]

Performance is why people use RAID 0. I'd install the OS and programs on it, but would save files to a single disk (and backup the important ones). Nothing wrong with using RAID 0 as long as you put stuff on it that's at most a minor annoyance if you need to wipe the disks.

[Damodred]

You dont earn speed by placing the OS on a raid0. The best would be to place an OS on raid1 because whichever head that access the correct data first will deliver it first where as the seeking time increase with raid0. Seektime is more important than high average read/write speed because the amount of files and the size of the same are so extremely small.

Raid0 is nice if you have large files moving back and forth but otherwise useless (imho). However, backup is always to be considered regardless if raid is used or not.

About your problem:

You need, most of the time, a motherboard that use the same raid- controller. If you use a different one, chances are high that the computer will ask you to format the drive to be visible in your OS. If you run a pure software raid you can just reinstall the OS and import the array. Works just as good really, difference is that you can't boot from it.

[william_fontaine]

Yeah, I guess with smaller transfers you probably wouldn't. Not enough to make it worth it.

Not that I'd waste the money with a RAID 1 either, I don't have anything that important that can't be backed up on another drive or gmail.