Un-RAID hard drives

[Cs342]

I will be migrating to an SSD but would like to keep my current hard drives for secondary storage. They are currently in RAID 0 mode since I wanted the extra speed (I used to not have an SSD). However, I have realized that if I install Windows on the SSD using AHCI, it will be impossible to maintain RAID on the hard drives since they will be attached to the same controller that the SSD is connected to. 

Because of this, I want to disable RAID, but without losing the data that is on my HDD RAID 0 setup (it currently has all my programs, word documents, music, videos etc).

Is there any way to do this?

[helping]

I don't know of any, but I can reliably speculate that there are raid recovery programs that should be able to perform that. You'll have to look around a bit.

 

You have nothing you can export an image of the drive to before switching to AHCI? You can always try to store it online if your internet is fast enough.

[Cs342]

I don't know of any, but I can reliably speculate that there are raid recovery programs that should be able to perform that. You'll have to look around a bit.

 

You have nothing you can export an image of the drive to before switching to AHCI? You can always try to store it online if your internet is fast enough.

I don't have an external HDD. There are 2 possible things I could do:

1. Attach a spare hard drive to my rig and then transfer all my important files to it. Then, after I have installed Windows on the SSD, I can reattach the 2 HDD's as separate drives and then move the files back.

 

2. Connect my desktop via ethernet cable to my router (my desktop is currently plugged directly into my modem instead of my router), and then also connect my laptop to the router via WiFi. Then I could somehow transfer the files from my desktop to my laptop. I think this is possible but I'm not sure how.

[dalekphalm]

I don't have an external HDD. There are 2 possible things I could do:

1. Attach a spare hard drive to my rig and then transfer all my important files to it. Then, after I have installed Windows on the SSD, I can reattach the 2 HDD's as separate drives and then move the files back.

 

2. Connect my desktop via ethernet cable to my router (my desktop is currently plugged directly into my modem instead of my router), and then also connect my laptop to the router via WiFi. Then I could somehow transfer the files from my desktop to my laptop. I think this is possible but I'm not sure how.

Basically, if you break or remove the RAID 0 array, then the data is lost.

 

HOWEVER, with that in mind, you should be able to recover the data using a RAID/Partition recovery tool.

 

Personally I recommend option #1 of those you specified. Hook up an extra HDD to your rig, transfer the files you need, then wipe the raid and transfer the files back to your newly reformatted 2x HDD's.

[Hazy125]

I don't have an external HDD. There are 2 possible things I could do:

1. Attach a spare hard drive to my rig and then transfer all my important files to it. Then, after I have installed Windows on the SSD, I can reattach the 2 HDD's as separate drives and then move the files back.

2. Connect my desktop via ethernet cable to my router (my desktop is currently plugged directly into my modem instead of my router), and then also connect my laptop to the router via WiFi. Then I could somehow transfer the files from my desktop to my laptop. I think this is possible but I'm not sure how.

Number 2 is possible, but it will take a few days to copy depending on how much data you have in the HDD. So number 1 seems like the better option. Also, why don't you just take out the laptop drive and plug it into the desktop and copy. That would be much quicker to copy stuff to the laptop

[Cs342]

Number 2 is possible, but it will take a few days to copy depending on how much data you have in the HDD. So number 1 seems like the better option. Also, why don't you just take out the laptop drive and plug it into the desktop and copy. That would be much quicker to copy stuff to the laptop

is that even safe lol

[Hazy125]

is that even safe lol

Yeah...? Or are you talking about transferring files over the network...? Both are safe.

Transferring over the network has more chance of failing if something happens like losing power or not having permissions to copy. And it will be eternally slow.

The hard drive thing is also safe. Power off the laptop, take the battery out. Unscrew the screws, if it'd a newer laptop it may only be one screw. It's usually marked on the back panel of the laptop with HDD as to which screws you need to remove. Then just plug the laptop into your desktop using a spare sata cable and go... It's just like having 3.5mm drive

[Cs342]

Yeah...? Or are you talking about transferring files over the network...? Both are safe.

Transferring over the network has more chance of failing if something happens like losing power or not having permissions to copy. And it will be eternally slow.

The hard drive thing is also safe. Power off the laptop, take the battery out. Unscrew the screws, if it'd a newer laptop it may only be one screw. It's usually marked on the back panel of the laptop with HDD as to which screws you need to remove. Then just plug the laptop into your desktop using a spare sata cable and go... It's just like having 3.5mm drive

Is the laptop drive powered by a regular hard drive power connector? Also my Zenbook has a unibody chassis so I'm not sure if I can remove the HDD

[Hazy125]

Is the laptop drive powered by a regular hard drive power connector? Also my Zenbook has a unibody chassis so I'm not sure if I can remove the HDD

Ah, you might now be able to... Maybe if you remove the whole backplate, and yes, most modern laptop drives are powered by a regular HDD power connector, I have a laptop drive running in my current machine

[Cs342]

Ah, you might now be able to... Maybe if you remove the whole backplate, and yes, most modern laptop drives are powered by a regular HDD power connector, I have a laptop drive running in my current machine

Is there absolutely no way to disable RAID 0 without losing data? How about moving all the data onto one of the RAID drives and then disabling RAID?

[helping]

Is the laptop drive powered by a regular hard drive power connector? Also my Zenbook has a unibody chassis so I'm not sure if I can remove the HDD

It's probably more work and I'd advise against that if you can even do that.

 

If you hard wire your laptop to your network (assuming a decent Router) your transfer rates shouldn't be that abysmal. How much files are we talking about moving? If you need another spare drive, you can always drive over the Bestbuy, buy one, and return it when you're done. I don't believe there is a restocking fee.

[Cs342]

It's probably more work and I'd advise against that if you can even do that.

 

If you hard wire your laptop to your network (assuming a decent Router) your transfer rates shouldn't be that abysmal. How much files are we talking about moving? If you need another spare drive, you can always drive over the Bestbuy, buy one, and return it when you're done. I don't believe there is a restocking fee.

Im talking over 200GB of files haha, should I try the router method? How would I go about doing this?

[Hazy125]

Im talking over 200GB of files haha, should I try the router method? How would I go about doing this?

Both the desktop and laptop have Windows right? If yes then it should be simple enough to do, but like I said it will take a very long time... The laptop would have to be connected through ethernet as well. This should theoretically give you gigabit transfer speeds that transfer 1gb every 8 seconds. Create a folder on your laptop, then on both the laptop and desktop go to my computer, on the left you have the location called "network". Navigate to that and a notification bar should appear at the top of the window informing you that file sharing is turned off, it that doesn't appear you can enable it through the control panel as well.

 

Now this is where it gets complicated with permissions and such, on your desktop you will need to enable file sharing on the drive or folders that you want to transfer from. I suggest you actually create a folder on the desktop and quickly copy everything you want to transfer into that folder but it's up to you. Right click on the folder you want to share(The one with the files you want to transfer) and go to properties. Navigate to the sharing tab and click share. A window should pop up asking who you want to share with. If the option for "everyone" is already there, click that and then ok. If not click the drop down and select everyone, make sure the permission level is set to read/write. Then it will begin the sharing process, wait for it to do it's thing.

 

After it is finished, go to the network location on your laptop, click on your desktop name and there should be a folder in there with the files you want to transfer. Then it's as simple as copy/pasting from the network location to the older you created on the laptop ages ago.

 

And to answer your previous question, no, breaking the RAID array will cause you to lose all your data

[Cs342]

Both the desktop and laptop have Windows right? If yes then it should be simple enough to do, but like I said it will take a very long time... The laptop would have to be connected through ethernet as well. This should theoretically give you gigabit transfer speeds that transfer 1gb every 8 seconds. Create a folder on your laptop, then on both the laptop and desktop go to my computer, on the left you have the location called "network". Navigate to that and a notification bar should appear at the top of the window informing you that file sharing is turned off, it that doesn't appear you can enable it through the control panel as well.

 

Now this is where it gets complicated with permissions and such, on your desktop you will need to enable file sharing on the drive or folders that you want to transfer from. I suggest you actually create a folder on the desktop and quickly copy everything you want to transfer into that folder but it's up to you. Right click on the folder you want to share(The one with the files you want to transfer) and go to properties. Navigate to the sharing tab and click share. A window should pop up asking who you want to share with. If the option for "everyone" is already there, click that and then ok. If not click the drop down and select everyone, make sure the permission level is set to read/write. Then it will begin the sharing process, wait for it to do it's thing.

 

After it is finished, go to the network location on your laptop, click on your desktop name and there should be a folder in there with the files you want to transfer. Then it's as simple as copy/pasting from the network location to the older you created on the laptop ages ago.

 

And to answer your previous question, no, breaking the RAID array will cause you to lose all your data

Thanks for the detailed steps! I really appreciate it How long do you think this will take?

[Hazy125]

Thanks for the detailed steps! I really appreciate it How long do you think this will take?

To set up? It depends on how long it takes to copy files to the folder on your desktop, which I recommend otherwise you have to share everything individually. 8 seconds to transfer 1gb if everything goes well. You can do the maths, I'm on my phone so it's difficult for me to. The actual process of setting up the sharing will take maybe 30 seconds to a few minutes. It's not too complicated

[Cs342]

To set up? It depends on how long it takes to copy files to the folder on your desktop, which I recommend otherwise you have to share everything individually. 8 seconds to transfer 1gb if everything goes well. You can do the maths, I'm on my phone so it's difficult for me to. The actual process of setting up the sharing will take maybe 30 seconds to a few minutes. It's not too complicated

Okay Ill try it to night Does it work with any Router? I'm using a Belkin N300

[Hazy125]

Okay Ill try it to night Does it work with any Router? I'm using a Belkin N300

It should working fine with any Router

[Cs342]

It should working fine with any Router

Would it work if I connected my laptop to the router via Wifi instead of ethernet?

[Hazy125]

Would it work if I connected my laptop to the router via Wifi instead of ethernet?

If you have a 802.11ac router then go for it, because that can match the speed of ethernet. But I'm assuming you have a router like most people which allows for 300MB/s, which is 700MB/s slower than ethernet which is already going to take a while to copy 200GB of data. But, yes, wireless will also work. Bear in mind that wireless is also less stable then ethernet so the risk of the copying failing 100GB in increases which is just a pain

[Cs342]

If you have a 802.11ac router then go for it, because that can match the speed of ethernet. But I'm assuming you have a router like most people which allows for 300MB/s, which is 700MB/s slower than ethernet which is already going to take a while to copy 200GB of data. But, yes, wireless will also work. Bear in mind that wireless is also less stable then ethernet so the risk of the copying failing 100GB in increases which is just a pain

But I don't have a spare ethernet cable :(

Could I plug my desktop directly into my laptop's ethernet port?

[Hazy125]

But I don't have a spare ethernet cable :(

Could I plug my desktop directly into my laptop's ethernet port?

If they both have auto-MDIX ethernet ports then you could, most computers have auto-MDIX... However I'm not sure how this impacts on copying files, it should work. I honestly don't know though

[Cs342]

If they both have auto-MDIX ethernet ports then you could, most computers have auto-MDIX... However I'm not sure how this impacts on copying files, it should work. I honestly don't know though

How can I check if they are compatible?

[Hazy125]

How can I check if they are compatible?

Just give it a crack, plug them both in, then go to the network and see if you can see the other computer