How to backup and restore a dynamic array

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mrwill

Limp Gawd
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Dec 26, 2005
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I built a new computer and have a raid0 array that I installed in Win7-64 computer management. The two HD's are listed as a dynamic array. I have not been able to find a backup solution that treats these drives as one drive. I have tried Easeus, Acronis 2012 with Plus Pack, and Norton Ghost 15. Anybody know of software that will do this?
All of the BU software will see the array as one drive when I back up, but when I try to restore, the array is seen as two separate drives. Any ideas?

Edit: I forgot to add that I also tried the boot disks for each, including a WinPE for Norton and Acronis. These would not even see the arrays at all.
 
This has been a real problem for me and I might go another direction. That is, instead of using a dynamic raid0 array, I may just opt for a real hardware raid controller. It would have to be capable of booting Windows 7 and be recognizable by backup software. I know these are not cheap and I would be willing to pay a couple hundred dollars for one. Anybody have any suggestions? I have two HD's - WD Black 2TB at 6GB/s that I would put in raid0. Some day I might also consider a pair of SSD's for another raid0, so would probably need 4 SATA III ports.
 
Can anybody answer any of my questions? Should I start another thread about the controller card?
 
By Intel basic array, I assume you mean Intel Rapid Storage?

I checked out the Intel Rapid Storage which I have already installed. There is a choice to "Create Volume" which is the method to create a raid array. The problem is that this choice is there, but is greyed out. The HD's are shown correctly - I have two HD's that are still in the dynamic array and there are 2 more that are identical drives, but are formatted (in Win7-64) as separate drives. Any idea why the choice is greyed out? I searched through the documentation, but no mention of the choice not being available for any reason.
 
Last edited:
By Intel basic array, I assume you mean Intel Rapid Storage?
Click to expand...
Yep.

It's hard to tell exactly what you're doing but if you're looking at creating a RAID0 array I suggest you do it during boot.

Enable RAID in the system BIOS

If required, enable RAID option in the system BIOS.

Note These instructions are specific to Intel® Desktop Boards with a supported Intel® chipset. Always follow the instructions included with your motherboard.


Depending on your Intel desktop board model, enable RAID by following either of the steps below.

Press the F2 key after the Power-On-Self-Test (POST) memory test begins.
Select the Configuration menu, then the SATA Drives menu.
Set the Chipset SATA Mode to RAID.
Press the F10 key to save the BIOS settings and exit the BIOS Setup program.
OR

Press the F2 key after the Power-On-Self-Test (POST) memory test begins.
Select the Advanced menu, then the Drive Configuration menu.
Set the Drive Mode option to Enhanced.
Enable Intel® RAID Technology.
Press the F10 key to save the BIOS settings and exit the BIOS Setup program.

Create a RAID volume

Follow these steps to create a RAID volume:

When the Intel® RST option ROM status screen displays during POST, press Ctrl and I at the same time to enter the option ROM user interface.
Select 1: Create RAID Volume and press Enter.
Use the up or down arrow keys to select the RAID level and press Enter.
Use the up or down arrow keys to select the strip size and press Enter.
Press Enter to select the physical disks.
Use the up or down arrow keys to scroll through the list of hard drives and press Space to select the drive.
Press Enter.
Select the volume size and press Enter. You must select less than one hundred percent of the available volume space to leave space for the second volume.
Press Enter to create the volume.
At the prompt, press Y to confirm volume creation.
Select 4: Exit and press Enter.
Press Y to confirm exit.
Click to expand...

No doubt you WILL lose all the data on those disks.

FWIW stay away from ALL dynamic disks. ;)
 
OK, so I have decided the dynamic array is not a good idea, so want to convert back to 2 basic drives. Now I cannot convert it back. In computer management it shows as one dynamic drive. There is no choice to convert back to basic. I even downloaded a program called Partition Wizard Home - recommended by Windows Seven website, but it did not change anything. Any ideas how I can get my two drives back to 2 basic drives?
 
If the system is on them, you can't. If they're in RAID0, you can't either, obviously.

mrwill : you don't need a RAID card, expensive or cheap, for a RAID0 of slow HDDs, the fakeRAID of the motherboard is enough.
 
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