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OskiO

8 Posts

4774

February 17th, 2007 23:00

Had Raid setup, then installed Vista...

I have an XPS 410. I had XP running great on a RAID 0. Tried to install Vista and couldn't get it to work. Disabled the Raid in the Raid setup (CTRL-I) but didn't disable it in the System Setup (F2). I install Vista and it works just fine. Now, a few weeks later, I realize why my boot takes so long, it runs the Raid Bios and stalls for 30 seconds before booting. I went into the System Setup and turned off Raid, actually I think I set it to AutoDetect. When I tried to restart the system gets to the Vista loading screen and then restarts. I end up in the Safe Mode option, but it still won't boot into safe mode, it does the same restart.

Is there any way I can get Vista to boot with the Raid set to Auto Detect or will that require a reinstall?

proimage1

82 Posts

February 18th, 2007 08:00

Hello - I basically have the exact same system as you ( mine is the Dimension 9200) but they are supposedly the same system - I do have the same specs 2 gigs of ram same processor - same 2 x 250 hard drives - etc.... I bought the retail version of Vista Home Premium - and have NOT been able to install it at all - I did have it installed the first time I tried - setup as a dual boot with XP and Vista - however - I went to expand the vista partition on the 2nd hard drive to allow more room for Vista OS and basically wound up crashing completely having to re-install XP - since then I reformatted the hard drive and have tried to do a new clean full install without success - I do know that the BIOS and RAID setup changed once I had to re-install XP - it still shows RIAD control on bootup - however - it DOES NOT show RAID 0 -- and I've been wondering how to re-set it to RAID 0 - how do you re-set it to RAID 0 ?

I do think the problem with the install that you and I both have - has to do with the RAID setup and the BIOS - I have updated to the most current BIOS from the Dell site - I do have the cd with the original drivers and was wondering if I could setup the drivers and RAID from that CD - but don't want to mess things up again - so I've held back on doing that - You said by hitting CTL 1 - it reset the RAID to 0 - is that how you can re-set it ?

I'll watch this thread to see if you have any luck.

When I try and install Vista - I get the BSOD - ( Blue screen of death ) on the first re-boot and have to shut the pc off and start back up - from their I have to choose between revert to previous Windows version or continue with Vista install which of course - just re-boots and comes back up with BSOD - ???

Regards

scott784

388 Posts

February 18th, 2007 20:00

Proimage1 wrote:
I do think the problem with the install that you and I both have - has to do with the RAID setup and the BIOS
 
Scott784 wrote:
I have an XPS 410 system Intel Core 2 Duo.  I essentially had the same problem that you described.  Specifically, when I tried to install the retail version of Vista Home Premium on my 3 month old system the following error message occurred:
 
"A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.  Worker_thread_returned_At_Bad_IRQL"
 
This error would occur everytime I got several screens into the setup process of Vista Home Premium.  Everyone at Dell and Microsoft had no clue how to help.
 
Here was my solution:
Go into the BIOS and make sure raid is turned off!  Actually, the only other option is "Raid Auto Detect" but that will work.  I have since learned that Vista does not presently support Raid technology so you must ensure Raid is not turned on in your BIOS.  That being said, you cannot consider a Raid 0 or Raid 1 configuration at this time with Vista Home Premium until the issue is resolved. 
 
Once you change the BIOS, you should be able to successfully install Vista Home Premium or Ultimate.  However, (as a side note), if you choose to have a dual boot system (like I did) with Xp on the other drive, you will most likely have to reinstall XP all over again on the other drive.
 
It seems the Master Boot Record of Vista overwrites the ini boot file for XP.  So if you choose a dual boot system, you will most likely have to clean install both operating systems on their respective hard drives.
 
If you only have one hard drive and only want to install Vista, the problem should be resolved by turning Raid off (change to Raid Auto Detect) in your BIOS.  You can get to this setting in the BIOS by navigating to the Drives Folder and then going to the subfolder Sata Operation.  Again, make sure Raid Auto Detect is the choice.  It can be confusing with the blue and gray shadings in there but just make sure Raid Auto Detect is the one that is actually chosen and save that option! 
 
Hope this helps.
 

proimage1

82 Posts

February 18th, 2007 23:00

Thanks once again Scott - I'll give that a try - but gosh - I sure would hate to lose the XP setup and have to re-install it - I to am wanting to do a dual boot - but reformatting the C: drive and re-installing XP is something I would really rather avoid since I just went through that last week - no fun at all. Anyway - I'll post the results. Take care and thanks again.

scott784

388 Posts

February 19th, 2007 00:00

Trust me, doing a reintall of XP on hard drive C was NOT what I wanted to do :-)  It was one big headache.  However, the whole Raid Technology (along with the new way Vista's boot technology works) seems to throw a monkey wrench into the Vista install.....especially when you want a dual boot system like I did.
 
It seems (among other things) that the developers at Microsoft have developed a new boot system for Vista (which is unlike XP or Win 2000, or Win 98).  When you install Win Vista on a second hard drive (as I did), Vista seems to overwrite its boot information on the other drive with Xp.  The result is you cannot dual boot because the computer can no longer read the ini boot file for Win XP.
 
You might think, why not take out the XP hard drive to protect it?   Well, you can.  But guess what.  If you put it back in there after installing Vista on your other hard drive, you will NOT get a dual boot system.  The computer has to see both drives in there together in order for the dual boot system to be configured. 
 
There may be a work around of this issue that I was not aware of at the time I went through all of this.  However, a long story made short, I had to reformat my C drive with XP and load that all over on top of the new Vista on my other drive!  This was a lot of work and much more than I wanted to get into.  The good news is I like everything now.  My dual boot with XP and Vista is working great.
 
I have not had time to study the feedback of another poster on these boards.  However, I did happen to notice a link placed on these boards earlier today.  If you want a dual boot system (like I've got), you "may" be able to avoid crashing and reinstalling your XP drive like I did.  I am not sure but take a look and study the following link.  The poster starts out describing the Raid issue (our initial problem) and then goes into specific details about dual booting) and the most effective way of handling it.  You might want to print his post out though because it is lengthy.
 




Message Edited by scott784 on 02-18-2007 09:05 PM

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