Challenge changing from RAID 0 back to single drive

[Mr Davo]

Hi Everyone,

I have been having a challenge with changing from RAID 0 to a single drive, whilst retaining the data from the RAID array.

To date I have performed the following:

1). Partitioned the single drive so that it closely matches the partitions on the RAID array.

2). Used XXClone to "clone" the contents of each partition on the RAID array to corresponding partitions on the single drive.

I have two partitions, one for the operating system (Win 7) and programs and the other for data.

All appears to be good on the single drive when I boot up from the RAID array and then look at files in Windows Explorer.

However when I remove the RAID array (and set the BIOS to non-raid) I cannot seem to boot from the single drive.

Windows 7 is presenting the following error:

Status: 0xc000000e

Info: The boot selection failed because a required device is inaccessible.

I have booted from the Windows 7 install DVD and selected the "Repair" option. From there I have...

1). Selected "Startup Repair"

*** Couldn't do it!

2). Gone to a prompt and issued the "x:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 all" command

*** Rebooted - no improvement

3). Gone to a prompt and issued different flavours of the "bootrec" command

*** Rebooted - no improvement

I notice at the System Recovery Options screen that Win 7 is listed as the OS, the partition size is given as 0, and the Location is given as (Unknown) "local disk"!'

Basically the "Repair" options cannot find the installation...

Can anybody offer advice on how I can go about getting my single drive to boot?

I have Googled this, and it would seem that most people can't get past this speed hump.

I have considered creating a system image, but I figure that I may just end up in the same predicament because the hardware configuration is being changed.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards,

Davo

 

[gregrocker]

I don't think its possible to clone a RAID array to a single HD.

Best to copy off the data and clean install to the single HD while none other are plugged.

 

[Dwarf]

Moving an OS from a RAIDed install to a nonRAIDed one (or vice-versa) is not possible. You will need to do a clean install. This is because of the way that the boot process works. When the BIOS has finished its POST, control is handed to the code within the boot sector of the HDD. Even on a RAID array, this is always on a single drive. The code there loads the required storage driver into RAM for subsequent use. This driver is either a RAID driver or a nonRAID driver. The correct mode has to be set in the BIOS for this - in other words, the driver that is loaded here MUST match the setting in the BIOS. Only if it does, can your system boot up. In your case, although you have cloned a RAID array onto a single drive and changed the setting in the BIOS accordingly, when you boot up the driver and BIOS settings don't match, yielding the error message you received: The boot selection failed because a required device is inaccessible. That is because disabling RAID in the BIOS has effectively removed the hardware from your system.

 

[Mr Davo]

Thanks for the help

Hi Dwarf,

Thanks for the excellent description of what is happening. I figured that transferring from RAID to non-RAID was a long shot, but I now know why!

Cheers

Davo

 

[PuterPro]

I know this is an old post, but there's an easier way.

If you boot from a CD or USB Stick (flash) that has a Registry editor (Like Gandalf) you can edit the registry to fix the problem.

This is handy if you're going from a RAID to a new SSD or the like.

Note, you have to change the BIOS from RAID to ACHI FIRST after you have removed the RAID drives.

Here's Microsoft's page on the keys to change:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/922976

All the Best, PuterPro
PS I'm rarely around, so followup Q's may take months...