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.