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Help with cloning and mirroring exisitng system

L

Lemodular

Senior member
OK, here is the scenerio:

I have Win XP Pro on drive A (400 GB) and would like to clone it to a new drive B (500 GB). Then I would like to mirror the new drive B to an identical drive C (also 500 GB), similar to a RAID 1 config.

All drives are SATA and my mobo is RAID capable (Gigabyte EP45-UD3P). The system is up and running and I would like to keep it that way. All drives are currently "basic" partition and not dynamic. Will that matter if I try to use the onboard RAID controller?

Should I set up a RAID1 before the cloning process or can it be done after?

I was planning on using Acronis True Image to "clone" Drive A to Drive B, any issues with that?


So my goal is to move and existing OS from one drive (A) to another (B), then run a RAID 1 setup with the new drives (B+C).

side note, I do have other drives for data in the system that I will not want to touch.
 
To clone the drive it would have to be from a single drive to a single drive. I don't think you can clone a drive onto a raid array. When you set up the raid you do it while installing the OS. You can't really take an existing install and then convert it into a raid.
 
the goal of this execise is really to keep a copy of my main drive handy in case of a failure. The alternative to hardware mirroring will be software based. If I have to resort to software, what are my choices? I thought Tru Image was that, an image and not a true file system backup. I need something that wil first clone my drive then sync it on a regular basis.
 
Originally posted by: mpilchfamily
To clone the drive it would have to be from a single drive to a single drive. I don't think you can clone a drive onto a raid array. When you set up the raid you do it while installing the OS. You can't really take an existing install and then convert it into a raid.
Click to expand...

you can, you just need to repair windows and install the RAID drivers.
 
Originally posted by: funkymatt
Originally posted by: mpilchfamily
To clone the drive it would have to be from a single drive to a single drive. I don't think you can clone a drive onto a raid array. When you set up the raid you do it while installing the OS. You can't really take an existing install and then convert it into a raid.
Click to expand...

you can, you just need to repair windows and install the RAID drivers.
Click to expand...

So are you saying it is possible to do what I want to do?

 
You have to set up your RAID1 (im assuming raid1 unless you want to go raid5 with 3 or more drives) then use ghost or another imaging program (acronis will do) to clone your current config to the new volume. After it's done, you need to repair windows with a retail XP disk and install the RAID drivers using f6 - theoretically slipstreaming the drivers in would work too, but i havent tested this. once windows is repaired it will keep all your settings and this should be a seamless transition.

You can then implement rsync to synchronize your documents or whatever- you should still be backing up your important documents even with a RAID!

back up what you need before trying any of this.
 
As has been said, you need to make that RAID1 mirror first and then make clone your current disk to that mirror device. The hardest part will be adding the appropriate drivers to the windows installation so that it knows how to communicate properly with the RAID device (and boot from it).
 
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