RAID configuration failure on Dimension 9150

twohoots

Is it RAID-0, or RAID-1?

Bev.


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Bev,

 

the information on my invoice says

 

160GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive #1~320GB SERIAL ATA RAID O Stripe (2 x 160GB 7200rpm)

 

Regards

 

Steve

twohoots

Steve.

Run Dell diagnostic's extended test, read, write, verify, on the hard drives, not the express test.

How to use Dell's Diagnostic Utility

After the Dell Diagnostics loads and the Main Menu screen appears, click the button for the option you want.

Diagnostics can also, be run from the Drivers and Utilities Resource CD.

Unfortunately as you have RAID-0, the only way to rebuild the array, is to reinstall XP and any saved data will be lost.

Any reason for using RAID-0, because a RAID-1, or two separate hard drives are saver to use

Bev.


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Bev,

 

I do not understand the difference between RAID 0 and RAID 1. I would be quite happy to use 2 separate drives as all my data and programs are backed up on another computer. How do I do any of this?

 

Regards

 

Steve

Steve.

This should explain RAID-0 and RAID-1.

As you have a Dimension 9150, I'll assume that you have XP.

You should follow the below steps as you are not using RAID or don’t have an internal floppy drive connected to your system.

Remove any external devices from the computer, such as external serial or parallel port devices and external USB peripherals (not including your mouse, keyboard and monitor).

Within BIOS Setup: Set CD-ROM to load prior to hard drive.

Insert the Windows XP installation CD in the CD drive.
Restart your computer.
When the blue DELL logo is displayed, press the 'F2' key to enter the BIOS Setup.
Press the 'Down Arrow' key on your keyboard to highlight Boot Sequence.
Press the 'Enter' key to display the available boot devices.
Press the 'Up Arrow' key or the key to highlight IDE CD-ROM Device.
Press the 'U' key or the 'D' key on the keyboard to move IDE CD-ROM Device to the top of the list.
Press the 'Enter' key.
Within BIOS Setup: Switch from RAID Autodetect / AHCI to RAID Autodetect / ATA.
Press the 'Down Arrow' key on your keyboard to highlight SATA Operation.
Press the 'Enter' key to display the available RAID configuration modes.
Press the 'Right Arrow' key to select RAID Autodetect / ATA.
Press the 'Enter' key.
Press the 'Esc' key to exit Setup.
Press the 'Right Arrow' key to select Save/Exit.
Press the 'Enter' key.
Your system attempts to boot to the CD that is inserted in the CD drive.
Boot off the Windows XP installation CD.
The following message appears: Press any key to boot from the CD.
Press the 'Spacebar' to boot to the Windows XP installation CD.

The setup program will now copy files to your system. This will take several minutes, please wait. After the files have been copied, a message appears and notifies you that the computer will be restarted.

Press the Enter key to restart the computer or a timer will count down and restart the computer automatically.
Restart.
When the computer restarts, the following message appears: Press any key to boot from the CD.
Do not press any keys when this message appears and allow the operating system to load.
The Windows XP Setup window appears. Many devices will be detected during this process. This will take several minutes, please wait. Once this process is completed, the Regional and Language Options window appears.
Follow Windows XP configuration instructions.
After all hardware has been detected and the files have been copied to the hard drive, the system will restart. When the computer restarts, the following message appears: Press any key to boot from the CD.
Do not press any keys when this message appears and allow the operating system to load.
Once the Desktop appears, eject the Windows XP installation CD from the CD drive.

Then install the drivers and applications in the following order,

Desktop System Software (if applicable)
Intel Chipset
Video Card
Network Interface Card (NIC)
Sound Card
Modem
All other drivers.

Install the Anti Virus utility and update the definitions, followed by all the critical Microsoft updates.

Note: During the installation of XP, remember to use the option to delete all the partitions and then recreate them.

A hint, prior to reinstalling XP, open the case and unplug the data cable to the second hard drive, leave the hard drive connected to SATA-0 connected, after installing XP and it's working to your satisfaction, reconnect the second hard drive and use XP's Disk Management to partition and format it, for use as additional storage.

See here

Bev.


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Bev,

 

Many thanks for this information. I will attempt to follow your instructions this weekend.

 

Regards

 

Steve

Steve.

Good luck.

Bev.


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