Instructions to replace a hard drive in XPS 410 are here.

 

You'll have to run BIOS setup before installing Windows and change "Sata Operation" from RAID to RAID Autodetect/ATA. Save the change and exit setup. Then boot from Windows CD.

 

There aren't any jumpers for Master/Slave on SATA drive.

 

Ron 

Thank you for the information. If there are no jumpers for Master/Slave on SATA, how can I setup 2 SATA HDDs on 1 machine? I do not want to go for any of the RAID options.

Primary hard drive gets hooked up to SATA0 connector on motherboard. Secondary drive gets hooked up to SATA1 port.  

With BIOS set to RAID Autodetect/ATA, connect the boot drive on SATA0 and turn off SATA1 in BIOS. Install Windows, then power off and connect second drive to power supply and motherboard and turn SATA1 on in BIOS.

 

Ron 

Thanks for the clarification. Detailed answers like that makes perfect sense.

 

Can we connect 3 SATA HDDs on the system? 1 being the simple SATA as a boot drive and the other 2 connected as RAID 0? I want to connect the other 2 HDDs to recover the data. Could that be done?

 

Thank you again.

You can connect up to 4 hard drives (SATA0 - 3) to this motherboard. Your boot drive is SATA0 not SATA1.

 

I don't believe you can connect SATA drive1 and drive2 in a RAID config if the boot drive is not RAID.

 

You said your original setup was RAID0. From Wikipedia:

 

RAID 0 (striped disks) distributes data across several disks in a way which gives improved speed and full capacity, but all data on all disks will be lost if any one disk fails. :(

 

Don't kill the messenger... ;)

 

Ron 

You got my point. I want the new SATA HDD to be on SATA 0 so that it could be set as the boot drive. But RAID0 to be set on other connectors. Can't this be done? Original was RAID0 but now i want to boot from the other HDD but still access the RAID0 drives through some other way. I have my data on it. Thats what i want to pull by accessing through the new HDD.

I do not believe you can set drives SATA1 and SATA2 to be a RAID config, while SATA0 isn't.

 

Re-read the red part of my last post.  Since one of your original drives in the RAID0 array failed, you've lost ALL data on both drives. If it's essential stuff, and you want to spend a ton of money, you could send both drives out to a recovery service in the hopes they can get the bad drive to work, AND figure out how the bits of each file on one drive fit together with the bits of the same file on the other drive.

 

<>Remember, in a RAID0 array, a file may be stored as many bits and pieces on both drives. They're not stored as identical backups of each other. When you read a file from a RAID0 array, Windows has to assemble the jigsaw puzzle from both drives in order to give you a complete file. Neither drive has an entire complete file.

<><>  
 <>

Ron

Would I loose the RAID volume if i disconnect the old drives from the machine? 

I already have a recovery software and it works really good. So if I can get to run RAID0 HDDs back on even without the data, i can try to recover through the software. But the thing is to get these drives running first. I cannot overwrite the new OS on these drives bcz then it might overwrite on the data that i am trying to recover. That is the reason I am trying to install the new drive so that i can have OS on that and then play with RAID0. But im confused on how to set these drives up so that system can boot into windows vista through the new drive and access the other 2 HDD (RAID0) to recover the data.

---

@Adnan Malik wrote:
Would I loose the RAID volume if i disconnect the old drives from the machine?

---

Don't understand your question...

 

You've already lost the entire RAID0 array if one of the drives failed.

 

I've queried some of the experts to see if they have any solutions to this disaster. 

<>  

Ron

I queried some of the forum experts. They think the chances you can recover your files from the RAID0 drives are slim. That's why it's essential to back up a RAID0 array on external media (eg, CD, DVD).

 

But before you give up hope,  let's back up. Exactly what happened when the system 'crashed'? Blue Screen of Death? Failed to boot? Be specific...

 

Ron

Thanks a lot Ron for taking the time out to resolve my problem. I sweat here when i think about the data. Let me explain how the whole issue started:

 

System was working fine in the morning. Once I turned it on in the evening, I ended up with the error message, "Missing Operating System".

This is how the screen looks now:

 

Serial ATA AHCI BIOS. 

Controller Bus#00, Device#1F, Function#02: 03 Ports, 03 Devices

Port-00: Hard Disk, Samsung SP22304c (this device is controlled by the RAID BIOS)

Port-01: Hard Disk, Samsung SP22304c (this device is controlled by the RAID BIOS)

Port-03: CDROM, TSSTcorp DVD+/-RW TS-H653A 

 

ACHI BIOS Installed

Intel (R) Matrix Storage Manager option ROM v6.0.0.1022 ICH8R 

 

RAID Volumes:

ID = 0

Name = ARRAY

LEVEL = RAID0 (Stripe)

Strip = 128kb

Size = 465.7 GB

Status = Normal

Bootable = Yes 

 

Physical Disks:

Port   Drive Model              Serial #                          Size           Type/Status (Vol ID)

0       Samsung SP2504C     S09QJ1SP*****             232.8GB      Error Occured (0)

1       Samsung SP2504C     S09QJ1SP*****             232.8GB      Error Occured (0)

 

Press CTRL-I to enter Configuration Utility

Missing Operating System 

 

This is where the system stops and doesn't move any further. 

 

Following is my system configuration: 

 

XPS 410

Windows Vista™ Home Premium  

Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E6400 (2MB L2 Cache,2.13GHz,1066 FSB)

1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 2 DIMMs

256MB nVidia Geforce 7300LE TurboCache

500GB Performance RAID 0 (2 x 250GB SATA 3Gb/s 7200 RPM HDDs)

13 in 1 Media Card Reader

Single Drive: 16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability

Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio

IEEE 1394 Adapter

 

Any clue why the system stopped responding all of sudden? How can I get the system to work as before?

 

Your help would be really appreciated. 

Thank You again.

 

Could be the boot sector is damaged or corrupted, the boot.ini file is missing, the master boot record is missing, you got a boot sector virus...

 

Reboot and run BIOS setup (press F2 before it errors out) and change the Drive Controller setting to RAID. Save the change and exit setup.  Maybe...

 

If not, try booting from your XP CD. Press R at first screen to launch Recovery Console.

At C: prompt, type in:

 

chkdsk c: /p /r

press Enter 

(Take a long nap!)

 

When it's done, remove the XP CD,

type in: exit

press Enter 

 

Maybe it'll boot if your fingers, toes and eyes are crossed... ;)  Post back and let us know the outcome.

 

 

If it still won't boot normally, maybe you can boot from XP CD and access the files on the hard drive so you can copy them to a USB memory stick. Might take a long time, depending on how many files there are and how big, but if that rescues them...

 

Ron