[pikespeakbob]

I'm looking for any advice on the replacing of my existing 80Gb raid drives which are 90% full. I've got two Seagate 250Gb internal drives on order and I'm using Windows XP Pro. I wish to do a fresh new install instead of a backup replacement to help weed out some "gemlins" that seemed to have crept into the PC over the years and don't want to leave. I've backed up all My Documents and other data programs and will install them after I get XP Pro up and running along with the upgrade to IE7. I'm looking for any caveats and other suggestions. Thanks in advance.

 

[crjdriver]

Sounds like you know how to setup raid and you have backed up your files so the only thing I could suggest would be to download any drivers you will need. Burn these to a cdr and it makes the install go much easier.

You probably have a motherboard support CD, however there are usually newer drivers available from the site.

Are you going to use the old drives for backup?

 

[pikespeakbob]

Sounds like you know how to setup raid and you have backed up your files so the only thing I could suggest would be to download any drivers you will need. Burn these to a cdr and it makes the install go much easier.

You probably have a motherboard support CD, however there are usually newer drivers available from the site.

Are you going to use the old drives for backup?

I believe I have all the original cd's for the MOBO and other critical programs but have also kept the downloads of all critical updates in My Documents and have made a separate copy of My Documents along with a complete copy of my original drive in an external HD.
I'm trying to remember any other problems that might come up besides ensuring the the BIOS is correct. I'm hoping all I have to do is replace both raid drives, format and install XP Pro & SP2.

 

[crjdriver]

One other thing you will need to do is enter the raid bios and create the array. Once that is done you will be able to boot with your windows cd and install.

Most likely you will also need to load the raid driver via the F6 prompt when installing xp or win2k.

 

[pikespeakbob]

Thanks for the info crjdriver. Will install in a few days and then sign off as problem solved (I hope).

 

[bigbear]

If your Xp disc does not include SP2 it will be better to slipstream SP2 onto a new disc using Autostreamer, otherwise windows will not see the larger drives you are installing
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/System-Tweak/Autostreamer.shtml

 

[pikespeakbob]

If your Xp disc does not include SP2 it will be better to slipstream SP2 onto a new disc using Autostreamer, otherwise windows will not see the larger drives you are installing
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/System-Tweak/Autostreamer.shtml

I have the MS SP2 on a CD from Microsoft and I have two CD/DVD drives, would that work just as well?

 

[crjdriver]

No. Bigbear is correct you will need sp2 [or at least sp1] in order to "See" the full size of the array. Making a slipstreamed CD is quite easy; you can even put in your raid card driver so you do not have to load via F6. I use nlite to integrate drivers, however many people use autostreamer. I am sure either one will do a good job for you.

 

[crjdriver]

If your disk has sp1, that is fine you can install with it and update later. It must have at least sp1 or all you will see of the array during setup is around 137gig.

 

[pikespeakbob]

If your disk has sp1, that is fine you can install with it and update later. It must have at least sp1 or all you will see of the array during setup is around 137gig.

My Original OS disk doesn't have SP1. Can I just install the SP2 disk after installing the original OS?

 

[pikespeakbob]

My Original OS disk doesn't have SP1. Can I just install the SP2 disk after installing the original OS?

I'm still a little confused about using the AutoStreamer method, the screenshot info says to install in a temp folder on C, but that's the raid drive I'm replacing. Do I install AutoStreamer after I've booted up with the new HD's & installed the OS without the SP2?

 

[crjdriver]

No, you use auto streamer to create an install disk with sp2 already on it. You use your existing install disk and the sp. The app [autostreamer] will integrate sp2. It may or may not make the iso bootable [I do not use autostreamer] If it makes a bootable iso, just use something like nero to burn the iso.

You are good to go.

If you do not install with sp2, you will only see approx 137 gig of your array. Once you install sp2 the rest will show as unallocated in disk management. You could then create another partition in the unallocated space.