Getting ready to do the install on my new SSD with some trepidation. I have Raptors in Raid 0 right now and would like to simply unplug them, set the BIOS to AHCI and use the 0 port for the SSD experiment/potential fiasco. What I hope to be able to do if the SSD doesn't like me, is to unplug it, set the BIOS back to Raid, plug in the Raptors and pretend the whole thing never happened. Does this stand a chance of working?
I wouldnt unplug the raptor raid - if you use intel raid (the one i'm sure of and probably similar, or the same for others) when you enable raid in the bios it also enables AHCI - so you should be good to go with testing the ssd drive - just unplugging a raid array can be very hard to set up again - i did it years ago and it was a miracle i got it back up and going again (that included reinstalling the OS) so not recommended - it also depends what options are available in the raid rom (i think its called) which you set it up in before you install the OS. From memory, which is bad, the problem was it couldnt recognise one or both the drives.
It depends on your motherboard I guess but for mind it should be ok - running raid and using the same controller to use a ssd drive in AHCI mode - but treat this as my opinion - you should be able to find information on your motherboards site, or intel etc's, site. Or wait for more replies as Im uncertain and more repies means more suggestions.
If it has 2 controllers eg intel and jmicron use the JMICRON if it supports AHCI to be on the safe side.
I have done exactly what you are proposing many times.
Disconnect the RAID disks completely (power and data). You should mark where they each came from (connector on your motherboard) so that you can return them to the exact same places.
If fact, I would disconnect all other hard drives before installing Windows on the SSD to prevent the boot record from possibly being placed on another disk.
You can leave RAID set in the BIOS as whest says.
You can then easily go back to your original setup if you wish.
Thanks much for the advice! Especially the bit about the BIOS. Did not know that. Will be giving this a shot in the next few days.......
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