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XPS 8920, How do I backup
My new Dell 8920 has RAID with 32gb SSD and 2tb HDD. I want to Clone whatever I need to, so that I have all Apps and Data backed up and ideally can boot from the back up if I have a major failure in the future. Come back Norton Ghost, all is foregiven :-). I have Googled and its not really helpful.
Dell has told me I cannot just put the bootable HDD - from my previous PC - into the 8920 box because 8920's UEFI (BIOS) has no Boot Priority option - without turning off RAID. Dell says this will likely mean a fresh install of Windows 10 will be required.
This leaves me with the queries:
- what's the most hassle free way of cloning my system to capture everything and give me a straight from backup to boot in an easy process. Will Aomei Backupper do it. OK, maybe I need to us the Dell Recovery CD I've already made. I've got several spare internal SATSA2 and external USB2-3 hard drives in my attic.
- can I add another HDD to my system, and how, without having RAID problems.
fireberd
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June 10th, 2018 03:00
I use the free version of Macrium Reflect (and from comments on computer forums it is the most popular imaging software). I make periodic full drive disc images (backups) to a separate drive.
I don't understand the RAID on your system. RAID in the past has always been two exact same drives not a small SSD and a large hard drive. Are you sure that its setup in a RAID configuration (e.g. RAID 0 or RAID 1) which would mean one configuration both drives have the exact same data and the other the data is spread across the two drives. Old fashioned operation as I don't recall seeing anyone with a RAID configuration lately. With the reliability of drives today (SSD and conventional hard drives) there is no need for RAID on a consumer PC.
Vic384
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June 10th, 2018 05:00
I think the reason for RAID is the 32 GB SSD which is used as a cache to speed up the HDD. I would ditch the 32 GB SSD for a 500 GB SSD, clone the HDD to the SSD, and switch to AHCI. I would then create a backup image of the SSD with Macrium Reflect to the HDD.
silverfox456
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June 12th, 2018 05:00
Thank you VIC384,
Do you think the 32gb SSD only has a temporary cache on it - that is, can I just ditch it without losing anything that won't come back if I put in a 500GB SSD ?
Silverfox
Vic384
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June 12th, 2018 13:00
I believe the 32 GB cache is controlled by Intel Rapid Storage Technology or Intel RST. I do not know enough about the Intel RST software to tell you how to turn off caching the HDD, but I would think that is what you need to do in order to ditch the 32 GB SSD.
RoHe
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June 12th, 2018 16:00
The 32-GB SSD is actually in a RAID0 array with the HDD.
Before you do anything, back up your personal files on external media, to be safe. :Wink:
Then reboot and immediately press Ctrl-I (that's the letter i). Assuming that opens the RST control panel, look for the option to break the RAID array and delete the cache volume. Then set RST to NON-RAID. Exit RST and reboot and immediately press F2 to open BIOS setup. Make sure SATA Mode is set to AHCI.
If you break the array in RST and then reboot but BIOS isn't set to AHCI, you'll get an error message saying either "device not found", "operating system not found", or something similar.
Assuming PC boots now with BIOS set to AHCI, you should be able to use your software to clone the HDD. You can also remove the 32-GB SSD from the PC since you won't need it as a cache if Windows is installed on the new SSD, and it's probably too small for useful file storage anyway.
Vic384
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June 13th, 2018 04:00
"If you break the array in RST and then reboot but BIOS isn't set to AHCI, you'll get an error message saying either "device not found", "operating system not found", or something similar."
I am not sure why this would happen. Isn't Windows installed on the HDD in RAID mode? The 32 GB SSD is just caching the HDD, not mirroring the whole HDD. I do not think you can change Windows to AHCI by just changing SATA operation mode from RAID to AHCI. The reason I question this is that I am concerned what mode ends up on the new SSD after cloning the HDD and whether cloning should not be done in the mode the HDD was originally set up in..