Disabling RAID 1 Questions

[netbrad]

Hey folks,

I'm getting ready for a motherboard upgrade and had some questions about disabling a RAID 1 setup. I want to be able to access one of the drives on the new PC to move old data from it to a newer drive and I do not want a RAID setup on the new system. According to the manual, deleting the raid wipes all data so I'd like a non-destructive way to remove the RAID. I've done internet searches and found wildly differing opinions and thought I'd ask in a more focused forum. So on to the details:

Current Setup:
Mobo: Asus M2N-SLI Deluxe
RAID: 2x320GB Samsung SATA HD using Nvidia Mediashield (BIOS Raid)

My options appear to be:

1. Deleting RAID using RAID software configuration menu.
Result: Data is wiped according to manual.

2. Disable RAID config in PC BIOS configuration menu, unplug one drive.
Result: Hard drive not recognized on reboot, no documented effect on data in the manual.

3. Remove one HD from PC and power it back on.
Result: Raid will be "damaged" but I should still be able to boot to the drive and should be able to disable RAID without losing data right?

4. Powering down PC and removing both HDs, then hooking one up to new PC (not as boot) to move the data over.
Result: Possibility the drive will not be recognized by new PC.

I'm leaning towards #4 right now but if there is an easy way let me know. I don't have any money for a new hard drive right now.

 

[drescherjm]

I pick #4. If windows does not recognize the disk try a bootable linux cd.

 

[Priddle]

Agreed, #4 should work. Also, I had a RAID1 setup using ICH10R on my board. I moved the Win7 to a new array using the Win7 System Image tool. I attached one of the old disks and was still able to read the drive (only after changing the disk ID) and deleted the RAID volume using the Intel Matrix software and was still able to read the drive. It may work the same for you.