Windows 7: Windows 7 System Image - Restore Non-RAID to RAID 0+1

I created a windows system image with the backup and restore utility built into Windows 7. This windows install is on a single hard drive. I built and onboard RAID 0+1 array and used the windows 7 install disk to restore the image on to the new RAID volume. Windows starts to boot up but the screen goes black and reboots. The windows recovery screen appears and asks if I want to run the startup repair or start windows normally. I selected the startup repair. Windows goes through it's paces and tries to repair but fails. It says "NoRootCause" and the problem is likely caused by a recent system change or upgrade. I have the feeling windows needs some kind of RAID drivers or something. The onboard RAID is a P5W DH Deluxe motherboard. Any ideas? Is this even possible to do?

MetalliMyers, welcome to the Seven Forums.

Assuming you built the RAID while still using the single disk this is what worked for me when I was experimenting with RAID,

1. Install drives and configure the array

2. Boot to Windows and install the necessary RAID driver

3. Make a full backup after the drivers are installed

4. Used imaging program (at the time I used Acronis True Home, but should work with any imaging app) to put the backup on the array

5. Disconnected the single drive after imaging just to remove it from causing any problems

6. Started up and it booted to Windows

No promises but it should work. Failing that you are looking at a fresh install of Windows.

Thanks for the welcome.

What you said makes perfect sense. I'll go give that a try when I get a few hours of free time and let you know my results.

I'm practicing on my 2nd PC to hopefully deploy this to my main pc without issue.

That's exactly what I had to do. Before, I was just making a system image before building the RAID array. I had a few issues booting into the original hard drive because of which SATA port I had it plugged into. (Had the RAID built on the black (Intel) SATA ports and had my original hard drive plugged into a black port. It needed to be off the RAID ports and plugged into a red (JMicron) port.) After that, everything went pretty smoothly.

Thanks for the tip stormy!

Thanks for posting back that it worked. Was pretty sure it would but confirmation is always nice.

Hey MetalliMyers,

I've been trying this exact thing except I'm going from non-Raid to Raid 0. I've also got the same P5W DH Deluxe motherboard as you.
Anyways, I managed to get windows 7 copied and running (after a bit of dicking around) using the EZ Raid setup, but instead of leaving well enough alone, I decided to give the Intel Raid a go, for better speed...

I've got the Intel Raid 0 setup, made a system image and installed it with Acronis 11. It boots up, I get the firefly screen, then instead of the welcome message, I get "preparing your desktop", and it loads to a blank blue screen. You can ctrl-alt-delete to get to the task manager and load some programs, but not all. I had this problem before with the EZ Raid setup, it turned out to be a problem with the drive letter. I was able to change the drive letter using regedit, but for some reason this fix doesn't work with the Intel Raid.

I'm totally stumped now...I would do a fresh install, but I have way too many programs loaded, and would be countless hours on program setup and installation. Arg.

Any help or insights are greatly appreciated.

I would put the Windows installation CD in and try a repair. That might fix it. That's the only thing I can really think of.

I tried the installation CD to no avail. The automatic repair doesn't pick anything up.

I'll do so more searching. It can't be too major, but I'm not finding many other things to try.

Well, I finally threw in the towel and went with a fresh install. I know this can work because I got it going with the other raid setup. I guess it will remain a mystery to me. I do like how responsive the system is with the fresh install, mind you.