Please help with NTFS partition

[sagejoshua]

Help!

I've got one WD80gig with XPpro and all software(NTFS - about 40gigs of data), and I just bought another one. I want to RAID them, but I want to keep my data intact. I've got another 200 gig drive with about 50 free gigs that I could throw an image on, but I've been trying to figure it out for a couple of days now and can't. I don't want to buy any software, and all the freeware/GNU stuff I can find has a hard time with NTFS. I've been messing with the Ultimate Boot CD, but I can't figure anything out, and I'm afraid I'm going to screw up my precious partition.

Please help... what should I be doing?

Thanks a million.
-Josh

 

[n0cmonkey]

You should be investing in a backup solution. 😕

 

[sagejoshua]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
You should be investing in a backup solution. 😕

what do you mean? I'm not worried about stuff in the future, I just want to move all of my current files (OS, software, etc) to the new RAID.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Which RAID?

 

[sagejoshua]

Here's what I have:

drive1: a WD80gig drive with the OS and everything I want to keep.
drive2: new WD80gig, to be paired with the first for a RAID0.
drive3: a WD200gig drive with enough free space to save an image of drive 1.

So what are the steps and what software (freeware/gnu/functional shareware) should I use to get my current partition onto the new RAID without losing it? Creating a RAID removes all data previously on the drives, correct? But I want to keep my setup, instead of reinstalling everything all over again. So that's my dillema.

I appreciate any help with this.

-josh

 

[n0cmonkey]

As far as I know, you won't be able to do it. Move your data off (BACK IT UP), install your raid, install your OS, copy your data back.

 

[sagejoshua]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
As far as I know, you won't be able to do it. Move your data off (BACK IT UP), install your raid, install your OS, copy your data back.

🙁 So I'm going to have to reinstall XP & all my programs?! Awww man that sucks. Don't know if its even worth it....

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: sagejoshua

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
As far as I know, you won't be able to do it. Move your data off (BACK IT UP), install your raid, install your OS, copy your data back.

🙁 So I'm going to have to reinstall XP & all my programs?! Awww man that sucks. Don't know if its even worth it....

You might not have to reinstall with something decent like RAID 1.

 

[sagejoshua]

What do you mean?

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: sagejoshua
What do you mean?

raid 1 mirrors the partitions, so it might not require a format.