Vista64- Move OS from Raid Array to New Boot Drive

Hello All.

I've been wrestling with these problems for three months, so I'll try
to keep it simple. I'm sure that I've omitted info that will help to
resolve my issue- just let me know and I can provide screenshots or
answers to clarify.

::JUST THE FACTS:::
-Vista 64bit install on Raid 5 array consisting of (4) 1TB WD Caviar
black HDDs.

-I mistakenly expected a nominal volume of 3TB with redundancy. Was
not aware that MBR has 2.0TB limit when the OS is installed on that
volume, even with 64bit OS. Result was approx. 750GB unallocated space
and no redundancy.

-I was told that I could ghost the entire volume, install new, smaller
HDD, copy the volume to that new HDD, and then reconfigure old drives
into new array without OS.

-I purchased a 150GB Velociraptor for quick boot-up with OS.

-I've tried Paragon Drive Copy and Macrium Reflect, but found that I
cannot copy the original volume, because the volume size reads as 2.0TB,
even though I'm using less than 50GB, and you can't copy a "bigger"
volume onto a smaller one.

-My next attempt was to use my original *OEM* Vista disk, and do a
clean install on the Raptor, with the understanding that I would have to
call Microsoft for a new product key, citing hardware problems requiring
a move from one HDD to another.

-When attempting to install the OS, it will only recognize the primary
array. The Raptor is not available. It appears to be available in Disk
Management, and was formatted with my nVidia Raid driver.

::WHAT I HOPE TO ACHIEVE:::
I want to move or install Vista 64bit onto the new 150GB Raptor, and
then reconfigure the original HDDs into a new Raid 5 array for storage
(NO OS). Once I've done that, I need to move my 700GB of data from a
FIFTH, identical WD 1TB Caviar HDD, currently in an external enclosure
acting as temporary storage. When that data has been moved to the
reconfigured four-disk array, I would like to extend the volume by
adding the FIFTH WD HDD, which is no longer needed for temp storage.

::MY QUESTIONS:::
Is this possible? Have I gone about this in the wrong way? If so,
what are the steps required to complete this epic build?

Thanks in advance for your help!!

Chris W.

christophace;1083866 Wrote:
>
> -Vista 64bit install on Raid 5 array consisting of (4) 1TB WD Caviar
> black HDDs.
>
> -I mistakenly expected a nominal volume of 3TB with redundancy. Was
> not aware that MBR has 2.0TB limit when the OS is installed on that
> volume, even with 64bit OS. Result was approx. 750GB unallocated space
> and no redundancy.

-If your motherboard has EFI for firmware instead of a BIOS, then you
can use GPT instead of MBR for your partitioning, which will allow for
much much larger partitions than 2.0TB. It's important to understand
that this is not a Vista shortcoming, but rather one of the BIOS
design.

-Also, depending on your RAID controller, it -might- be possible to
create a 4x1gig in RAID 5 array (total 3gig usable array), and then have
your RAID controller partition a 2.0TB LUN and a 1.0TB LUN. Think of
this just like when you create a NTFS partition & a FAT32 partition on a
drive... but this is at an even "lower" level. Again: this will
require support from your RAID controller. Adaptec, for instance, is
well known for doing this to work-around the 2.0TB LUN limit on the old
SCSI spec.

> -I was told that I could ghost the entire volume, install new, smaller
> HDD, copy the volume to that new HDD, and then reconfigure old drives
> into new array without OS.

I would try a *shrink* operation on the sytem volume, down to a size
that will definitely fit on the new system-disk, and then perform a
backup/restore onto that disk. From there you should be able to boot
and *extend* the volume to fill the entire disk (if necessary).


> -I purchased a 150GB Velociraptor for quick boot-up with OS.
>
> -I've tried Paragon Drive Copy and Macrium Reflect, but found that I
> cannot copy the original volume, because the volume size reads as 2.0TB,
> even though I'm using less than 50GB, and you can't copy a "bigger"
> volume onto a smaller one.
>
> -My next attempt was to use my original *OEM* Vista disk, and do a
> clean install on the Raptor, with the understanding that I would have to
> call Microsoft for a new product key, citing hardware problems requiring
> a move from one HDD to another.
>
> -When attempting to install the OS, it will only recognize the primary
> array. The Raptor is not available. It appears to be available in Disk
> Management, and was formatted with my nVidia Raid driver.
>
> ::WHAT I HOPE TO ACHIEVE:::
>
> I want to move or install Vista 64bit onto the new 150GB Raptor, and
> then reconfigure the original HDDs into a new Raid 5 array for storage
> (NO OS). Once I've done that, I need to move my 700GB of data from a
> FIFTH, identical WD 1TB Caviar HDD, currently in an external enclosure
> acting as temporary storage. When that data has been moved to the
> reconfigured four-disk array, I would like to extend the volume by
> adding the FIFTH WD HDD, which is no longer needed for temp storage.
>
> ::MY QUESTIONS:::
>
> Is this possible? Have I gone about this in the wrong way? If so,
> what are the steps required to complete this epic build?
>
> Thanks in advance for your help!!
>
> Chris W.

This should all be possible, and is likely only a limitation of the
backup software.

HOWEVER - if it were me I would take the RAID array off-line when I
first booted up the system using the Raptor. I'm a one-step-at-a-time
kinda guy.

From there, assuming you have backed up your data from the RAID array
(either before or after getting the Raptor booting), you can destroy
your array and create a 3.0TB array and format it as GPT using Vista.
All 3 TB will be fully usable in one large volume. Afterwards, copy
your data back to it.