help with RAID0... BSOD WinXP

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enhanced08

Weaksauce
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Feb 21, 2006
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Hey guys, first Im not sure if this should go here or general hardware. Please move if needed.

Im having an issue with my computer, its an AMD Athlon 4600+X2 on a Biostar TF560 A2+ motherboard. I have 3 HDDs on it, 2 in RAID0 (boot) and one just as a secondary drive. While transfering some files from an external HDD I got a BSOD. On restart windows will not load and I get an error about a missing or corrupt driver (system32/drivers/nvgts.sys). It tells me to insert the WinXP install cd and hit "r" to repair the file. Ive tried this but I never get the prompt to hit "r". I also can not boot from any other live cd because they will not have the required RAID drivers to view the array.

Anyone have an idea as to how I can save my array? I really dont want to reinstall.
 
Sounds like your drives overheated and crashed your OS and your RAID0 array.

I've had this exact same thing happen.

Unless someone here knows something I don't, your array is done for and it is time for a reinstall.
It's good that you had a backup disk at least.

When working with RAID0, expect the worst to happen.


On a side note, have you considered upgrading beyond XP? I hear they are doing wonders with OSes these days. :D
 
The problem is I didnt have the boot drive backed up like I should have. :/ Ive been running a RAID0 array for probably 8 years in atleast one system (now I have 2 different systems both with RAID0) and this is the first problem I have ever had. I just hope my luck hasnt run out yet.

I hated Vista from the day it came out. I have Win7 on my netbook, Ive just never upgraded on either of my desktops. I like XP. :)
 
All I have to say about XP is this:
data.gif


:D
 
Your array is probably toast. Happened to me the other day... thankfully I didn't have anything important on the raid 0. That ended up being the catalyst I needed to buy an SSD and then setup a raid10 for my storage (The data on there isn't *too* important... as long as I make a backup once a year or so, I won't be missing anything that I can't recover through other means)
 
I basically set it up so that if I actually need something, it's never JUST on one drive. Those smaller important documents get auto synced to a server, then I just have recent drive clones (I switch out SSDs a lot, and just leave the old cloned image on them). Those second tier important files just get backed up per usual.

Vista and 7 are awesome. I like XP too, but that doesn't mean I want to use it for the rest of time. You weren't like "Win95 is only ten years old, I still want to use it." five or six years ago, were you? The management tools alone are worth the admission, but TRIM with Win7 is super important and a reason alone to switch.
 
ckryan said:
Vista and 7 are awesome. I like XP too, but that doesn't mean I want to use it for the rest of time. You weren't like "Win95 is only ten years old, I still want to use it." five or six years ago, were you? The management tools alone are worth the admission, but TRIM with Win7 is super important and a reason alone to switch.
Click to expand...

TRIM on Win 7 is not reason alone to switch, unless a SSD is used that is. ;)

haha, I couldn't imagine using Win 95 in 2005, but 2000Pro at the time was ftw.
 
You don't have the prompt for repair with the XP CD because it doesn't have the RAID drivers either. That's why there is the F6 thing to do, with drivers on a floppy (or an emulated floppy).

With RAID0, it can just be a very minor problem, like one unreadable sector on the wrong file, and you don't boot. The data is still there, and recoverable with linux tools (they don't need the raid drivers since you use them with the drives in IDE).
 
I have an install cd with the raid drivers slipstreamed in but it still will not give me the repair prompt. Could you explain howto recover the data with linux? Im no linux expert at all.
 
You know, you could have just reinstalled Windows and all of your apps and could have been up and running by now.

If you want to try to recover your data, boot up your system with an Ubuntu (or similar distro) LiveCD, then mount your RAID0 array, and see what you can recover, if anything.
Just fyi, you don't need to install Ubuntu, just run it off of the disc (the Try option).

I really doubt there will be much left though that is recoverable at this point.
It was a RAID0 array under FakeRAID, I'm not sure what you are expecting.
 
yes I could have, and I would have lost all my data, which was the whole reason I made this thread, NOT to lose it.
Aesma, said there are linux tools that can assist me. I know very little about linux and therefor dont know of these tools. Even with a name I could search and possibly figure out how to use it.

I have an old Ubuntu liveCD but it would not pickup my array, Im burning the latest version now to try.

EDIT: The latest Ubuntu booted and picked up the raid array. All files are ok and are being backed up now. Thanks!
 
Last edited:
Sorry I didn't answer before, glad you could recover your data. About the repair prompt you must chose install and it's later on.
 
Aesma said:
Sorry I didn't answer before, glad you could recover your data.
Click to expand...

No problem, I was just a bit hesitate to do it on my own. I know enough about Linux to get myself in trouble and thats about it. I didnt know it was that easy to read a raid array, I assumed that Windows and Linux would read them differently or something. It makes sense, however, since its a hardware raid rather than software.

Thanks again!
 
I doubt its a problem with the RAID0 array, cuz if one of the drives died you'd have no array.
I think its a Windows XP problem for which a Repair installation would fix the problem.
this link should help -
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm


XP Repair install

Please read carefully and make sure you followed the warning links before initiating the Repair Install. You can print a text version for reference. repair.txt

Boot the computer using the XP CD. You may need to change the boot order in the system BIOS so the CD boots before the hard drive. Check your system documentation for steps to access the BIOS and change the boot order.
When you see the "Welcome To Setup" screen, you will see the options below

This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft
Windows XP to run on your computer:

To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.

To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.

To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.
Press Enter to start the Windows Setup.

To setup Windows XP now and Repair Install , press ENTER. do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R", (you Do Not want to load Recovery Console). I repeat, do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R".
Accept the License Agreement and Windows will search for existing Windows installations.
Select the XP installation you want to repair from the list and press R to start the repair. If Repair is not one of the options, END setup. After the reboot read Warning#2!
Setup will copy the necessary files to the hard drive and reboot. Do not press any key to boot from CD when the message appears. Setup will continue as if it were doing a clean install, but your applications and settings will remain intact.
 
Thanks for the post, but the problem was not a dead hard drive, it was a driver issue. Both hard drives are working fine. I used Ubuntu to mount the array and copy my files to a backup location.
 
nev_neo said:
I doubt its a problem with the RAID0 array, cuz if one of the drives died you'd have no array.
Click to expand...

No, it was not a dead drive, but I am banking on the fact that one or both of them overheated, causing the driver and HDD(s) to crash.
I've had this happen myself with nearly the same setup.

At this point, he has already recovered his data and now needs to re-install the OS.
It will be much easier to install the OS from scratch than trying to recover the OS as it stands now, and I wouldn't trust it anyways since the RAID0 array is faulted.
 
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