So my PC was configured with a RAID 1 setup with 2 160GB HDs. I am now at <10% HD space remaining so I picked up 2 1TB HD's to replace. Everything I read online made the switch seem very easy and it went ok so it seemed.

The problem is "my computer" is still seeing the 11.8GB free of 133 (160)GB HD instead of my fresh new 1TB HD.

I have attempted using Disk Manager by right-clicking on drive and expanding but for some unknown reason Vshit greys the option out. So my next method of using diskpart.exe built into vshit was a fail as well. When following the instructions of extending, I get the follow message: "There is not enough usable free space on specified disk to extend the volume."

The RAID controller sees the 1TB but the PC isn't, any ideas?

I followed these instructions:


My ARRAY rebuilt its self after the reboot. I saw no options for altering anything. The above text made it seem like a simple thing but now I believe I may have to go the dreaded reformat because nothing I have tried has worked.

PC Specs:
XPS 420
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.40GHz
4.00GB Ram
Vshit SP2 32-bit
UAC is disabled

Hi Panther

I've had this problem before, but I managed to fix it with a free CD boot disc called Parted Magic. It's a Linux distro but don't let that put you off, it is easy to use, has plenty of documentation and uses a GUI interface so windows users wont feel intimidated by command line stuff. The only problem you might have is the RAID controller, it may not be supported by Linux, but it's worked on all mine so far.

There's some good info on how to use gParted (a utility included on Parted Magic) found here How to resize a partition. Give all the documentation a good read, then have a go. I was surprised at how easy it was to use, and how quick it was too.

Hope it all works for you, I hate having to format a hard drive and losing all that work and spending a day getting my system back to where it was before.

'Rep

My info is old cuz I have not dealt with RAID in years but iirc, you need to set the properties of the array in the firmware utility that you access before the OS starts. I believe the utility will accept a new drive but limit it to the size of the existing drive. Not sure but, I do not think this is a windows problem as it takes its info about the array from the RAID controller so, if it has not been modified by the utility, it will report the old values.

Guess I'm reformatting. I booted the PC with the iso and all loads ok, except my keyboard and mouse are useless. What damn headache....

I deleted the RAID Array, which deleted my information. The ARRAY was holding its settings of 143GB and in order to change I had to delete, wtf. I still have the old drives so I'm starting over.

Cripes, thats weird.

What keyboard and mouse have you got, most USB HID devices should to work, PS2 keyboards and mice should definately work.

If you can get the input devices to work, I would suggest you use gParted to copy the contents of 1x 160gb to 1x 1Gb hard drive in a non raid configuration. Then check the size of the partion, if necessary resize it to 1Gb. Finally use the copied data to rebuild the raid 1 partion.

At least with raid 1 you've got two copies of your data, if you had raid 0 you'd be in a whole different world of pain.

Hope you get you drives sorted out. Theres nothing worse that tech issues getting in the way of having fun.

L8rs

'Rep

My weekend was wasted trying to figure this issue out. Solved, formatted 2 1TB drives, installed Vshit, start over fresh.... Left RAID1 in the dust, I don't plan on returning to any RAID setup as they do nothing but cause more headaches when trying to transfer.