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RAID 10 (0+1) Array Failure - Windows will not Boot! HELP!!!!

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by ben

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I recently upgraded my whole desktop to the following config:
.Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R Motherboard
.4 x SATA 500GB Seagate HDD setup as RAID 0+1
.XP Pro

Tonight i was about to scan a document and noticed a notifiaction baloon saying something like 'INTEL MATRIX STORAGE MANAGER HAS NOTICED A DRIVE IS MISSING'. I checked the drives through Matrix Manager and noticed there was one drive missing. On restart i also noticed the drive missing on the bootup screen.
I powered down, checked all connections, all seemed OK. Re-started and found XP starting in SAFE MODE. 1 out of the 4 Drives was still missing.

I checked all connection again and on restart i found the bootup screen had found the missing drive, all 4 members of the RAID array were there BUT nnow windows would not boot at all. As far as it goes is to a screen saying something like 'A FILE IS MISSING OR CORRUPT - The file was: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM.
You can try using recovery console to repair or replace this file.

When trying to use recovery, no drives are found!
Xpress Recovery2 program (came on motherboard driver disk) says something like 'IDE DRIVES NOT FOUND OR PRIMARY DISKS ARE OCCUPIED'.

Is my DATA recoverable or do i have no chance? Is it worth me spending the money and taking it to a recovery Tech? The DATA is very important to my business and because i assumed i had a reliable instant backup with my RAID 10 setup i have no backup else where!!

What should i do, any sugestions?? Would greatly Appreciate any feedback anybody might have!

5 replies

by bart777

It sounds like your primary stripe is dead. Hopefully it didn't take out the backup array as well.

Try unplugging both of the drives from the primary stripe so that only the second stripe is there. If the controller is any good it should fail-over and let you boot.

If that fails then you may need to go to the recovery company. Since the data was a stripe to begin with there is no fault tolerance there. then go get a simple USB drive and run a monthly backup. Put the drive in a fireproof box when it's not in use. That way if the computer fries completely you will still have at least some of your data.

Let us know what happens.

best of luck

by ben

Makes sense what you are saying.
I have tried this but still no luck. I also noticed when i removed the second primary drive the Raid Array status shown during start up showed FAILED and Bootable showed NO compared to REBUILDING and Bootable YES when all 4 drives are plugged in. Could it be my Motherboard in particular its SATA controller, that is stuffed? If so am i able to change the Motherboard over and reconfigure the Raid array without loosing my data?

by jm.saucedo

Bios finds them but windows doesnt.
My problem got solved with Changing all IDE drives to Slave on the Jumpers, even the one with the OS on it. After that windows found them.

I have 3 IDE HDDS, 2 SATA.

by ben

Thanks for you input. All my drives are SATA drive therefore i do not have Master/Slave jumpers. Any other ideas?

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