Intel Matrix Storage Manager - - Reset Disks to NON-RAID

[AnnaG]

Hi,

Today I installed a second HDD. My existing HDD was partitioned to Drive C (system), F and G - where D and E are DVD drives.

I partitioned the second HDD to Drive J, K and L (matching Drive C, F and G capacity and block size). Then I decided to try RAID 1, using the Intel® Matrix Storage Manager and its Intel Matrix Storage Console 8.8.0.1009, and created my first RAID volume.

Sad thing is, I really knew nothing about RAID this before executing the command. It took approx 2 hours for the process to complete.

Now I would like to revert back to my existing HDD and do whatever is necessary to rework the second HDD back to Drive J, K and L. However, I am concerned that I may lose all the data on my existing HDD and its Drive C, F and G.

At startup, I notice that CNTL-I gets me into RAID setup where one option states:

Intel Matrix Storage Manager option ROM v6.0.0.1022 ICH8R

[Main Menu]
1. Create RAID Volume
2. Reset Disks to NON-RAID
3. Exit

[Disk/Volume Information]
RAID Volumes:
ID - 0
Names - Volume_0000
Level - RAID1 (mirror)
Strip - N/A
Size - 298.1GB
Status - Normal
Bootable - Yes

Physical Disks:
Port - 0
Drive - WDC
Model - WD320
Serial# - WD-XX
Size - 298.1GB
Type/Status (Vol ID) - Member Disk (0)
Port - 1
Drive - WDC
Model - WD320
Serial# - WD-XY
Size - 298.1GB
Type/Status (Vol ID) - Member Disk (0)

Can I execute Main Menu 2, and Reset Disks to NON-RAID without losing all my data on my existing HDD and its Drive C, F and G?

Thank you in advance for your suggestions and or recommendations.

Regards,

Anna

[GregManning]

Most likely, no. I hate being the bearer of bad news, but most likely you won't be able to save data once you break the array. Intel Matrix RAID like you used is software based, and once you break the array, the data goes poof.

Because your fortunately went with RAID 1 though, that's why I said "likely" and not "for sure". There is a chance that once you break the RAID set, that the original data drive should be still fine. To be honest though, I would back everything on it up and then try it. At least if it's all backed up, it won't matter if you lose the drive itself once the array is broken.

[AnnaG]

Thank you for your reply, GregManning.

I was afraid of that, and I sincerely appreciate your straight forward approach.

A decision that took less than 10 seconds may have cost me hours of work. Nuts!

I shall do as you suggest and make a backup of my C: drive, as well as my F: and G: drives. Once that's done, I am going to play around with this RAID 1 config for a while. Play around because, in addition to having my existing HDD partitioned to C, F and G, there is a hidden section for DELL crap. I say DELL crap because this is where DELL hides programs required to do a fresh Windows XP install. In short, like many OEMs, DELL does not give the user a FULL version of Windows XP. I am certain you understand so I won't continue to bore you on this.

I am going to find out if the RAID 1 configuration is TRULY redundant for Drives F and G, and the DELL section as well. It may be a couple of days, but once I have the answer I will report my findings to this forum.

Hey, thanks again for your reply and for your support GregManning.

Anna