Then RAID 0 is not what you need. The only thing you mentioned that might benefit from RAID 0 is gaming. I am not a gamer but I would imaging if you are playing online it isn't shoot m up games. RAID 0 is called striping. The idea is that half of the data stream is written to each of the drives. That means that if one drive goes bad for any reason you lose everything. Do you image on the 300GB? How much data did you have on the RAID array when it went out? Do did have 134GB of total space on the array didn't you? I take it you had the computer assembled by someone else? One thing I noticed is that your specified drive size is odd. If you have 80GB WD drives they would format at about 74GB.

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Hi, Nope, I assembled everything in there, from the video card to the processor to the power supply (I even had the case custom-built). I didn't clarify ... I have two WD Digital HDD, both with 69GB. on the bootup, it shows 0 - WDxxxx 69GB and 1 - WDxxxx 69GB (where x is a bunch of numbers identifying the make and model). On the 300GB, I put pictures, our working files, and video. On the array, I left all the necessary files for XP Pro to work, plus some working files, the online games, and all music files. And yes, you are absolutely correct ... it is not shoot-m-up games I play (I'm a little too "seasoned" for that... if you know what I mean LOL). It is cooperative flying games (they take a ton of memory). I have given up the games for family time, so the computer is no longer used for online games (I just didn't have time, and I didn't change the computer to adjust for no gaming). Now, this evening, the computer started up. Extremely slow, and no CDROM or CD-RW drives showing. Additionally, I have no internet connection. I was able to get into the Control Panel and the add/remove program, and there was nothing there. Also, trying to open up anything having to do with the system causes the computer to hang. I need to do a hard reboot just to get everything back. So, with all that said, would you suggest that I do a RAID array and use the 300GB as a backup? If not, like I said before, I am open to any and all suggestions (although I would like to keep a RAID array as I did buy the two WD HDD drives.) Oh yes, here are my system specs: AMD Athlon X2 Dual Core 4800+ 2.41GHz ASUS A8N-SLI Premium mobo nVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX 2GB Corsair RAM XP Pro 2002 - SP3 Memorex 52x CDROM Sony CD-RW

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So, going back to your statement the your computer decided to die. Do you mean the hardware gave out or your operating system malfunctioned? You didn't answer about the amount of storage space you had when running Windows. RAID 0 would have given you 2 x 67GB. RAID 1 would have given you 67GB with two copies. Do you know which you had?

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You didn't answer about the amount of storage space you had when running Windows. RAID 0 would have given you 2 x 67GB. RAID 1 would have given you 67GB with two copies. Do you know which you had? is it crucial Windows XP user i would appreciate if everybody that has received help from me to say if my suggestions works

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Yep, I had 2 x 67GB. As for the "died" part, I don't think it was the hardware. If it was, wouldn't the computer not boot up to the desktop? I'm still able to see my desktop with my wallpaper, so that leads me to believe it is not a hardware issue. Sorry for the confusion. Thanks again for the help.

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Well, If you want to restore back to the RAID 0 you should be able to do that but I would recommend that you image the array or at least not keep any personal data on it. If you didn't change any BIOS settings then it is already set to run RAID 0. All you need to do is to install SATA RAID drivers when prompted after you start the WinXP installation. Do you have a floppy drive installed in that computer? You either need to have the drivers copied to a floppy drive or you need to slipstream the drivers into the WinXP files on your CD and burn a new install CD. When attempting to install I would also recommend disconnecting the storage drive temporarily until you have finished the installation and updated. Post back if you have a floppy drive.

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Hi, Yep .. I have a floppy (doesn't everyone? LOL) I will not keep any personal data on the array anymore. Is RAID 0 still okay to use, or would you recommend another array (based on jam's message above)? Are there any advantages to one over the other based on what I use my computer for? I'm open to anything new and better suited for my uses of the system.

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