New System - HD, RAID, and new OS

[Coach3K]

First of all, I want to say thanks in advance for all the great knowledge in these forums. I got a wild hair to build my first system from scratch this last week on Christmas Eve, and I've spent 4 days on-and-off visiting forums like this to get input from everyone to make an informed decision.

I've finally decided on going with the following setup:

* Asus 875P Chipset Motherboard for Intel Socket 478 CPU, Model "P4C800-E DELUXE" -RETAIL

* Intel Pentium 4/ 2.6C GHz 800MHz FSB, 512K Cache, Hyper Threading Technology - Retail

* Geil Ultra Series Dual Channel 184 Pin 1GB(512MBx2) DDR PC-4000 - Retail

* 2 x Western Digital 36.7GB 10,000RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model WD360GD

* Antec Performance Series II Mid Tower Case With 350W Power Supply,Model:SX835II,Retail

All of this is from Newegg, and I currently am planning on getting the OEM version of Windows XP, with Service Pack 1a to install with it.

I plan on overclocking the 2.6c up to at least 250 FSB, and maybe a bit over, which the Geil RAM should handle fine at 1:1 easily.

I'm planning on putting the 2 Raptors into Raid 0 array on the Southbridge ICH5R.

Here's where I'm unsure of where to go and what to do regarding both my OS and my Hard Drive setup.

I currently have a functioning system running on a P3 1GHz machine...that's not too important, but I have only 1 Harddrive...it came with the Dell when I ordered it...system information returns: Generic IDE Disk Type47 with 37.25 GB of space. I've got Windows Me installed on this current system.

I plan to cannibalize some minor things like mouse, keyboard, DVD, Lite-on CDR/RW, etc., plus my video card over from this system when the new one is stable.

I plan on utilizing my current Harddrive (37.25) in the new system in some way, to add to the 2 Raptors in the RAID 0 array, assuming that it will install fine on a new system.

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1) What's the best way to get a new version of Windows XP Home Edition installed on this new system AND save the data I currently have on this harddrive so that I can use it on the new system.

Do I just install the 2 Raptors in Raid 0, and put the new XP on it...then get the system up and running and LATER transfer this harddrive over and run it separately?

Will my data be accessible?

Will the fact that Windows Me will still be on this harddrive corrupt things if I transfer it over?

Will it be possible to "uninstall Me" from the current drive and keep my data intact so there aren't conflicts when I move it over to the new system that will be running XP?

Should I just spend several hours burning critical data to CD's and just format my old HD when I'm ready to move it over?

2) This kind of leads from the other question...would it even be smart to use the 2 Raptors to install the OS? I'm pretty sure I've seen conflicting info on this, but most of what I've seen says basically: "Use your Raid array for data and put your OS on a separate IDE."

Most of what I do on this computer involves online gaming...Everquest, Horizons, WWIIOnline, some FPS games, etc., but I also have a lot of movies and MP3's and get on the internet a lot.

Does it make more sense to have my old 37 GB HD set up for the OS and the 2 Raptors in the Raid 0 as data, or vice-versa?

And does it matter whether I have all 3 drives on the ICH5R, or should I run the IDE off of the Promise controller with the Raptors in the Raid 0 on the superior ICH5R?

3) This also leads from an earlier question: IF the best advice is to utilize my current 37 GB HD as the OS disk with RAID for data, would I be better served by getting an Upgrade Version of Windows XP and just transfer the HD over and then Upgrade from the OEM Me to XP?

I have a feeling that may not work, as I believe when I've reinstalled Me on this computer before (due to corruption and general re-installation), I think I tried to put Me on an old P2 400 at the same time and I got errors regarding the OS only being valid for the Dell it was shipped with. So I can imagine I'd get errors if I tried upgrading/"installing" Me on the new rig when it's meant to be used on the Dell only.

So...what are my odds for actually keeping my data from my current HD (I do plan on using it in the new system anyway), will I have to do a fresh install of XP, and which setup will be best for my Raptor/Raid drives and this old IDE drive?

Long post, I know...I pretty much know the direction I want to go, but this Harddrive/OS/existing data issue has me unsure.

Any help you can provided would be great. And I'm open to any input you have about my planned system, as well.

Thanks,

[Vigo]

What I did:

I had a PIII with windows already installed on teh single master hdd. I installed a second hard drive as a secondary master on another ide. Booted teh computer without any problems. MBR loaded windows off the first drive.

Haven't used SATA drives... but i'd think it would work as well? Install one sata drive, format and install windows. install the 37 gig and i'd move all information i wanted to the first drive so i could format the 37 gig accordingly. Then use the full windows cd to delete the partition with the current windows and install windows on the 37 gig.

Keeps your data, and gets windows on the 37 gig using the full install cd.

[Vigo]

Just make sure you put the data you want to keep on a different partition than the OS.

[shifty]

Hi Vigo.Well if I were you I'd sell that old system complete and use the proceeds to buy some new parts.You can probably get$200 for it if it has a monitor.Get a 9600 pro video card or something similar,a new SATA 8mb cache drive for storage,maybe a 80 or 120 gig.You'll have all the drive space you'll need.Forget about the old hard drive.It's probably a 5400 rpm and it will just slow the system down if you have the os on it and wouldn't be much improvement over your old system,not to mention it's three years old and might crap out soon.Your spending a lot of dough on the lastest parts,why would slow it down with old components.A new Liteon 52x CD-RW is on sale at Newegg for only $36.You can save some money by using the P4P800 deluxe mainboard instead of the P4C800.I have one with a 2.8 800,1gig Kingston and it's a great system.To save a little more go with a TI 4200 video card.That's what I have.Don't go with a three or four year old video card.If your old system has a lan card on it you can network it with the new one and transfer what data you want.Just a few things to think about.Hope it helps.

[Coach3K]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Good point on the old hard drive. It is getting pretty old, so it'll poop out on me soon enough, and decent storage capacity is fairly cheap these days. I might as well get a new one and just transfer stuff over via my lan.

I got a Lite-On CD-R/RW 48x24x48 last Christmas and I'm using it now...that's what I plan to carry over as my main ROM for the new system, unless I cave in and get a DVD-R/RW.

I looked at the P4P800, but just wanted to go a few steps up to the e-deluxe.

My current plan is to carry over the Ti4200 I have in my Dell now to the new system. For what I use it for, it still has a lot of life left in it. Once this generation of 256 Radeons and GeForces become a generation or two old, I'll upgrade that for cheaper than I could do now.

I'm still unclear about my setup for my HD's though.

As of now, I'm planning on grabbing a mid-sized 7200 SATA 8 mb drive to install XP on and run the swap file off of, and use the dual Raptors in Raid 0 strictly for data.

I'm just scrapping the idea of "upgrading" my current Me to XP and going with a full version...which OEM from Newegg is pretty much as cheap as upgrade version anyway.

Any other input would be appreciated.

[glc]

I'd load up the Raptors with a fresh copy of XP, then put the old drive in on one of the standard IDE channels and copy the files you need. I usually just drag and drop the entire drive into a folder on the new drive and sort the stuff out later. Then pull the old drive and get rid of it with the old computer.

The Lite-On burner and the Ti4200 are both fine for the new system, I'd consider a standalone DVD reader in addition considering how cheap they are.

[Vladiator16]

Originally posted by Coach3K I'm still unclear about my setup for my HD's though. As of now, I'm planning on grabbing a mid-sized 7200 SATA 8 mb drive to install XP on and run the swap file off of, and use the dual Raptors in Raid 0 strictly for data.

Actually you'd want to do the exact opposite. The Raptors should be set up in Raid 0 and you should install the O/S and applications on the Raptors. This will improve boot up time and loading of your apps. The other SATA drive should be used for data storage.

The P4C800-E Deluxe (note that only the E version uses the ICH5R southbridge that has SATA raid) has four SATA ports. Two on the Southbridge and two on a controller card that runs off the PCI bus. You'll want to use the two Raptors on the onboard (Southbridge) ports and put your extra strorage drive(s) on the controller.

[Alfie]

This is what I did with a similar situation,installed the 2 sata drives in new system,enabled sata as primary and pata as secondary,enabled raid in bios.
A floppy should come with the motherboard,this will have your sata raid drivers on it,have it ready.
I left my other hard drive with XP installed disconnected.
When you reboot with raid enabled,a screen will appear,set up your raid array there,it's very simple and self explanatory.
The raid program sets up and scans the drives,it will make the drives bootable.
I then booted from XP cd,and when prompted,with my trusty floppy in drive,hit and held the F6 key,XP will read the floppy and will install the raid drivers.
I then partitioned the drive(as the drive,now,will be read as 1 drive,unbeknownst to me at the time,C: drive was the drive that the Raid setup had made bootable,the size of C: should be small,as XP ended up on F: drive.
Consider C: should be large enough for Video drivers,and the 800megs reserved for the boot files.
XP then installs and you're on your way.
After XP had been installed,and all was well,I installed my other drive,the files are all accesible as are all programs.
If you want a dual boot system,you could install it prior to installing XP to the Sata raid array,I didn't,so I left it disconnected,but the beauty is,if, I should have a problem, or need a back up,I can change the boot order in bios and the system will boot off the old drive.
HTH