Should I disable/uninstall Intel Rapid Storage Technology?

[1Wolf]

I have just built a system with a Samsung 256GB SSD and a Seagate HDD. I'm not using a RAID. My motherboard is an ASUS P8Z77-V Deluxe and i've got the SATA ports in AHCI mode in the BIOS. I do have a "Hot Swap Bay" in my case that is empty at the moment, but eventually I'll probably plug a drive in there once ina while.

After I installed my chipset drivers, I downloaded and installed thie Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver. This seems to load a "Delayed Start" icon in my notification area, and runs a service.

This runs each time I start windows.

Can I uninstall Intel Rapid Storage Technology (or if I shouldn't uninstall it, should I disable it?). I've read the help file documentation and it doesn't really tell me. I've been searching here on [H] and doing some googling and I can't seem to find a straight and reliable answer on this. Some folks seem to say to leave it running and that it does something important. Others say that you dont' need it if you're not running a RAID.

 

[Old Hippie]

Yep, it can be uninstalled without a problem.

It's really not needed even with RAID but it makes managing the array a little easier.

 

[1Wolf]

Thanks Old Hippie. Much appreciated

I read through the entire help file for the thing and to me it seems really vague about exactly what it does if you don't have a RAID set up. After doing some googling, it sounded like some folks left it run...and some had all sorts of problems with it. So I was really hoping it was ok to uninstall and was worried whether doing so would cause me problems.

Thanks for the info!

 

[westrock2000]

If just using as AHCI or even RAID0 then nope you don't need it all. If using as RAID5 or maybe as RAID1 you'll need it to initialize and verify the RAID. RAID5 for sure needs it.

 

[Old Hippie]

. If using as RAID5 or maybe as RAID1 you'll need it to initialize and verify the RAID. RAID5 for sure needs it.

I've never heard that one.

AFAIK everything about any array can be done in the BIOS including Initialization and verification.

Do you have a link that says otherwise?

 

[mothman]

The best way to way to run Intel Rapid Storage is to install the driver at the beginning of the OS 'Load Driver' part.
This way you don't have to install or use the software after OS install. If you install after OS and then uninstall you should check to see if you still have the IRST driver running, it may revert back to generic AHCI driver.

 

[Mackintire]

I've never heard that one.

AFAIK everything about any array can be done in the BIOS including Initialization and verification.

Do you have a link that says otherwise?

The Intel Software RAID gets stupid sometimes. Without the console you would have to check to see if anything is wrong.

With the console, you get notifications (inside the OS) that something has gone wrong and some tools to resolve RAID related issues.

The Intel Rapid Storage Technology console is the direct replacement for the Intel Matrix Storage Consol, and honestly its a much more stable and reliable application compared to the old one.

The only detail left out is that the Rapid Tech Console requires dotnet 2.0 or newer in order to be installed. This is notable if you want to use this application on Win XP.

 

[westrock2000]

I've never heard that one.

AFAIK everything about any array can be done in the BIOS including Initialization and verification.

Do you have a link that says otherwise?

This was my Sabertooth X58. As far as I can remember the BIOS for the controller did not have any utilities outside of creating the RAID.

 

[Old Hippie]

The Intel Software RAID gets stupid sometimes. Without the console you would have to check to see if anything is wrong.

'Tis true, but it's not needed.

As far as I can remember the BIOS for the controller did not have any utilities outside of creating the RAID.

It's there.

You hafta use CTRL+I to set the RAID parameters.