Intel RAIDFix – RAID Driver Repair
Download RAIDFix 1.1.0
45 KB, .exe – Requires .NET 3.5
RAIDFix is a small application that allows you to enable RAID on an Intel ICH-based motherboard after installing Windows with RAID disabled.
Often, enabling RAID in the system’s BIOS after installing Windows with RAID disabled results in the dreaded Blue Screen of Death and immediate reboots, followed by hours of frustration and searching the Internet for a solution.
I had previously detailed how to enable RAID after installing Windows, which has helped countless people fix their computers without having to reinstall the OS from scratch. The process is pretty straightforward, but for those afraid to tweak their registry, it can be a daunting task. Enter RAIDFix.
RAIDFix takes the guesswork out of fixing your system:
Simply download the application, select the driver version you would like to install, choose your system drive (typically C:\), specify whether you have a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows, and click “Patch my System“. It’s that easy!
The drivers are verified by Intel to work on Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7. Give RAIDFix a try and banish those BSODs for good!
RAIDFix offers the following features:
- One-click fix for Intel RAID Issues
- Automatically installs missing drivers and registry entries
- Easy to use interface
- UAC Compatability
- Automatic update notification – RAIDFix will automatically check for application updates so you always have the latest version at your fingertips
Updates to the software can always be found on this page. I can usually be found in the Geek-Republic Chat Room, but feel free to leave comments.
Changelog
RAIDFix 1.1.0 – 2009.12.08
- Added Windows UAC compatability to allow for elevated credentials at runtime
- Added ability to specify different system drive paths
- Added option to retain temporary files after RAIDFix is finished
RAIDFix 1.0.0 – 2009.09.09
- Initial Release
You sir, are awesome!! Thank you so much on the behalf of millions!
Well thank you. I’m glad that RaidFix could help you out!
Having been advised by both Microsoft (windows7 upgrade advisor) and the manufacturer of my motherboard (Gigabyte) that there was no way I would ever be able to move my system which has a SATA disk and the 802801ER (ich5r) driver from reading about Raid fix it looks like there is light at the end of potentially expensive tunnel ( a new motherboard)
Can you confirm I have understood what your software achieves.
I can turn off the XP enabled ICH5R and reboot.
Stuart,
I am not 100% sure what you are trying to achieve. RaidFix is meant to allow you to enable RAID on your computer if you installed Windows with RAID disabled on your controller.
From your description, it sounds like you are trying to move a RAID volume from one motherboard to another. Is this correct? If so, your Win7 upgrade advisor is most likely correct. Your RAID configuration data is stored on your RAID controller, so switching your drives to a new motherboard would more likely than not render your array unusable.
If you can pass along a few more details, I might be able to assist you further.
My current setup is a Gigabyte GA-8I875 mother board running XP with all service packs applied, The Board has two inbuilt SATA ports one is powering a Raid enabled 160GB Hard Disk. The manual says that the SATA uses the Intel ICH5R (802801ER) drivers. My goal is to move to Windows 7 with the least problems/expense. The Upgrade advisor says that there will be no further drivers for the 802801ER and hence the motherboard cannot support Windows 7. I have looked at the last driver produced which appears to be 5.1035 but am told this will not work as it did not work with VIsta correctly.
I have thought of just disabling the Raid function of the onboard SATA port but have been told this will loose all my stored data.
I have also looked at adding a HD SATA controller card or an IDE to SATA conversion card that does not use the ICH5R.
Reading your program notes this appeared as another possible route
So let me make sure I have it all straight. You have a single 160 GB hard drive connected to a RAID adapter with RAID enabled, correct?
What I am getting at is that if you have no actual arrays defined, simply a lone disk on a RAID-enabled controller, turning off RAID on the controller will do absolutely nothing.
In my system at home, I have the following drives, all on a RAID-enabled ICH9 controller:
1 – 300 GB SATA drive – standalone
1 – 250 GB SATA drive – standalone
1 – 1 TB SATA drive – standalone
2 – 500 GB SATA drives – RAID 0
Now, I not only have standalone drives on a RAID enabled controller, but I also have a RAID array configured there.
There have been more than a few times that I need to revert back to so-called “IDE” or “Compatability” mode on my controller. For example, when trying to scan a RAID volume for disk errors, you must revert to IDE mode in order to scan each drive individually. Most utilities, such as WD Lifeguard Diagnostics, will not see the disks in a RAID array, and thus will not scan them.
That said, I have gone back and forth between RAID and non-RAID mode on my controller without any issues whatsoever. If you do indeed have a standalone drive, you should have no issues turning off RAID and running as usual. However, if you have a RAID 0 array configured, you will see no data while in IDE mode. Once you switch back, however, your computer should have no problem recognizing the data on the drive.
The only issue I have ever run into switching between modes is that when finished, I have to change the boot order as changing the number of disks attached to the controller seems to confuse the BIOS.
Let me know more specifics about your disk configuration (e.g. single disk? multiple disks? RAID 0? RAID 1?)
Like everyone else here’s my problem. I have a new MSI P55-GD80 Motherboard, 8GB Corsair Dominator 1600 memory, i7-860, 2 EVGA Geforce 275′s (for 4 monitors), and my Windows 7 i64 bit nstalled just fine. Except, I have no RAID for my SATA VelociRaptors (3000HLF) 10,000 RPM.. I’m a bit confused by now as to how to fix my proble. Don’t mean to be so slow. But help. How do I buy RAIDfix. Or what software needs to be installed? Thanks.
Mike,
Let me make sure I know what your situation is. You have installed Windows, but you did not enable SATA RAID in the BIOS before doing so, correct?
If that is the case, simply download RAIDFix, select “64-bit” from the menu and run the application. This will install the required RAID components. Next, reboot your computer and enable SATA RAID in the BIOS.
That should be it! RAIDFix preinstalls the components required by Windows to see the RAID controller while in RAID mode. If you simply enable the RAID controller in the BIOS after installing Windows, your system will blue screen.
If you already had RAID enabled when you installed Windows, I’m not quite sure where the problem lies. RAID arrays are normally configured on the RAID controller before Windows boots. You can however configure RAID from within Windows using Intel’s Matrix Storage Manager.
Let me know if that clarifies things.
Dr. Nathan, thanks for the response. But I seem doomed to fail gere. I got RAIDFIX, indicated 64 bit and then go the error message “Could not copy Iastor.sys to C://Windows/System32/Drivers” – you may want to attempt this manually.
ERRO access path C://Windows/System32/Drivers/IaStor.sys is denied.
So I went to the folder on System32 and made sure it was marked “shared” and also I was running in Administrator mode since my own account is the Administrator. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Michael
Michael,
I need to take a quick look at the code for the application, it is possible that there may be a small bug. I will get back to you shortly.
In the meantime, if you are feeling adventurous, you can try this solution: http://drnathan.teamhackaday.com/2009/09/02/follow-up-a-new-method-to-enable-intel-ich-raid-after-installing-windows-plus-updates-to-the-original/
It essentially does the same thing as RAIDFix, but it is the manual method of doing so.
If you would rather wait a short bit, I will check RAIDFix for bugs.
Michael,
I took a look at the application and everything seems to be on the up and up as far as the code is concerned.
I would try temporarily turning off UAC and then running the application again. Let me know if that remedies the issue.
Question, i am looking to upgrade to windows 7, from an XP professional with a
ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe 478 Intel 875P ATX Intel Motherboard AND (2) Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB 10000 RPM SATA drives connected to the ICH5R Sata contoller running RAID 1
or Intel(R) 82801ER SATA RAID Controller as stated by the Windows 7 compatibility tool
Do i need to disable raid to first install windows 7 and then use your tool to enable raid again?
Thanks
Jim,
Actually, you should not have to change a thing. Since you are already running with RAID enabled in Windows XP, there is no reason you should have to change it to upgrade to Windows 7.
My tool is specifically for those people who mistakenly installed Windows without first enabling RAID on their motherboard. Things become problematic when they try to enable the RAID controller after the installation is completed, and my application remedies the situation. Since you already have a Windows installation up and running, leave it as is and go about the upgrade.
I do however suggest that you break your RAID mirror (but leave RAID enabled in your BIOS) before upgrading if you are feeling extra worried about a smooth transition. That way, you have a backup of your Windows XP installation that you can turn to if something goes wrong. Once you install Windows 7, you will have to of course re-build your mirror which will take some time and incur some wear and tear on the drive.
That said, you are going to incur a bunch of disk I/O on that secondary drive if you keep the mirror synchronized through the install anyways, so you might as well break the mirror to have a backup disk handy just in case.
Not that I don’t trust Microsoft’s upgrade path…but you just never know.
Dr. Nathan, your advice on this would be greatly appreciated:
I currently have two 400GB drives (with less than 400GB of data) that I want to put into a RAID 0 array. I’m planning on putting in a 1TB drive for backup purposes that won’t be on the RAID array. Here’s what I plan to do:
1) Put all the data I currently have on one 400GB drive.
2) Clone the 400GB drive with all the data to the 1TB.
3) Set the 400GB drives into RAID 0 in the BIOS, and boot to the 1TB.
4) Use RAIDFix to enable RAID in Windows 7, and immediately clone everything back to the new RAID array without rebooting.
5) Set the BIOS to boot to the RAID array.
6) Boot into Windows 7 on the RAID array.
Will this work, or am I overlooking something that might prevent it from working?
Lee,
It looks like your plan will work just fine, if I understand it correctly.
I take it that one of the 400GB drives has a Windows 7 installation present on it, and that you plan on copying the data from your other 400GB drive to it, after which you will create an image from the first 400GB drive.
If that is the case, your plan looks sound. If you are planning of doing a fresh Windows 7 installation, there is no need for RAIDFix at all – simply enable RAID on your SATA controller and install as usual. Likewise, if you already had your SATA controller configured to allow RAID when you installed Windows 7, you are good to go. This applies even if you had not created any RAID volumes.
However, if you had RAID disabled on your SATA controller when you installed Windows 7, you will need to use RAIDFix. I suggest that you use it just before you create the image of your 400GB hard drive.
Good luck, and let me know how it goes!
Yes, one of the drives has a Windows 7 installation on it already. I’ll create an image once all the data is on the current Windows 7 drive.
If I use RAIDFix before creating the image which I put on the 1TB then boot into the 1TB (which isn’t on RAID), that won’t cause a problem, would it?
Drive should be here by the end of the week, so…fingers crossed it works
Lee,
Using RAIDFix before creating the image should be just fine. All it really does is install the basic RAID chipset drivers so that Windows does not blue screen while connected to a RAID enabled SATA controller.
That said, I would do the following:
1) Copy all of your data to one 400GB Drive
2) Run RAIDFix
3) Enable RAID on your SATA controller – do not define any RAID Volumes at this time
4) Ensure that your Windows 7 installation boots from your 400GB drive and install Intel’s Matrix Storage Manager
5) Create your image of the 400GB drive and save on the 1TB drive
6) Create your RAID 0 array from the two 400GB drives and restore your image there
That should be it. I do however recommend keeping backups of your data since you are putting your OS and your data files on a RAID 0 array. Since there is no redundancy, if one drive dies, all of your data is gone.
Good luck!
Lee,
I forgot to mention. If you are really itching to try this out, simply run RAIDFix on your Windows installation now, and enable RAID on your SATA controller. If you boot without blue screens, the rest of the process will be a cakewalk. If it blue screens, we have a problem.
However, all you need to do in order to restore functionality is turn off RAID on your SATA controller – Windows should then boot without issue.
Thanks for the advice. The 1TB that’s coming in is specifically for making multiple scheduled backups. I’m eager to try it out, but I think I’ll take the safe route and wait for the 1TB to arrive first…will definitely let you know how it works out!
Never mind, couldn’t resist. Used RAIDFix, set the SATA controller to RAID and booted into Windows no problem! Can’t wait till the 1TB arrives.
Great, glad it worked out!
Be sure to install the Intel Matrix Storage Manager tools as well – they allow you to tweak and monitor your arrays from Windows.
Dear DrNathan!
Now I can take advantage of all power of my computer. I hate Intel – why it was impossible to give to people this decision at once? Damned corporations… LOL! Thank God, we have such people as the Doc – God grant it of health!
Thank You very, very MATCH!!! Your method works! You save my time and health!
The small remark: if operating system is installed not on disk C:, after a choice of variants of a patch and button pressing “Patch my system” and loadings of files there is an error message. Do not worry! In the first – do not press button Ok on error message (the files necessary to us reg_tmp.reg and IaStor.sys differently will be remote), in the second – open a folder from which you have started RAIDFix and copy from it a file reg_tmp.reg. It is all! It is necessary to start only its double click and to connect with the register. As in my case driver IaStor.sys already has been integrated into system at installation on method F6 it was not necessary for me. The last step – to instal Intel Matrix Storage Utility with a version number corresponding to the installed driver. After reboot in the Manager of devices there will be a device of Intel RAID controller.
Good luck to all sufferers!
PS
My system: Win XP SP3/Asus Maximus Formula 2/Q9550/4GbRAM/5 SATA HDD all WD from 400Gb to 1Tb.
Sorry for my English!
Dr. Nathan, I report success! Now running on my RAID 0 array without a single problem. Making my first backup with Acronis now.
Thanks for the help and for RAIDFix!
Awesome Lee, I’m glad that everything fell into place!
Enjoy your new array!
I have a problem that I really could use your help. It seems that you could be the one person who can help me. I have been searching high and low online for answers.
i have a Raid 10 setup with Windows Vista Ultimate 64-Bit and 4 500GB Seagate HD’s with 4GB of RAM. I have an ASUS P5E3 DeluxenMotherboard. My computer was working fine for quite a while, and then I tried to make a change in overclocking my computer. After that, the next time I booted up my computer freezes with the green line that just goes around and around as it trys to boot-up. So I tried to boot up in safe mode, it didn’t work. I tried safe mode with command prompt, and every time I loaded up, the computer would freeze when it had to load a crcdisk.sys file. I can’t get past this file. I tried booting with a bios change of my RAID setup to ACHI compatible and IDE, but then I could never see my disks or they were unrecognizable. So I am stuck dreading that fact that I might have to reinstall my system with no full backup. I’m not sure that your RaidFixz would help me. Is there anyway you could help? I would be very grateful. Thanks in advance..
Iain
Iain,
Sorry to hear about the problems you have been having with your computer. Have you tried resetting all of the overclocked settings back to stock? That may help you with the boot process.
I actually had a somewhat similar issue booting into Windows 7 recently. The computer would take well over 5 minutes to boot, which made no sense at all. The problem ended up being a loose SATA power or data cable. I had to check and replug them all, which eventually remedied my issue.
You might want to double-check all of your cabling and try booting once more before trying anything else. Also, switching to IDE mode will render your installation useless as you found when you switched those settings. The motherboard needs to be in RAID mode to see any of the data on your 4 drives.
1) I suggest booting from the Vista DVD with RAID enabled and attempting the boot repair process. It is fairly straightforward, and you can find many tutorials online if you need additional assistance.
2) Locate another hard drive, SATA or IDE, depending on the available ports on your computer, and install Vista to it with RAID enabled on the motherboard. This should allow you to access and back up all of the data on your RAID 10 array in the event that you need to completely reinstall your OS.
Good luck, and keep us posted on your progress.
Doc,
Thanks for this! It worked as designed and saved me a major re-installation headache.
As others have said, “Thanks, from the millions!”
DrNathan,
Its amazing that you’ve made the process of RAID driver migration so easy. I’m a consultant by day, this has saved me many hours and my customers many dollars. Thank you 10x over!
I would like to offer a few suggestions if I may:
1. Maybe change the name to something more specific instead of RaidFix (Intel RAID Driver Fix, Bios RAID Fix, etc). While googling for ‘RAIDFix’ will give me the results I’m looking for, looking at ‘RAID Fix’ gives me RAID repair solutions. When ever I go to track down this fix it always takes me a bit longer to find and I believe that it is becuase of the name.
2. For the comment from ‘Michael Crum’ and maybe could be mentioned in the install process. When running the fix on either Vista or Win7, download the patch and execute it by Right Clicking and Choosing ‘Run as Administrator’. This works great and saves the problems of having to disable UAC.
Thanks again for a prefect fix for an annoying situation.
- Eric
Eric,
Thanks for the feedback! I am glad that RAIDFix has helped you in your day to day work.
As for your suggestions, I will definitely consider changing the name around to make searching for it even easier. I am working on adding UAC Elevation privileges to the application as well, so it should work in all configurations.
I have just used your RAIDFix utility and now the BSOD is gone and I can setup raid now. Thank you for this helpful software!
I do have one question. Under Device Manager, it lists “Intel(R) ICH8R/ICH9R SATA RAID Contoller”. However, my motherboard has ICH10R. Why is that?
Before using the RAIDFix utility, I have already installed Intel Matrix Storage Manager. Is this prior installation ok? Or, must IMSM be installed after (not prior to) using of RAIDFix ?
Interesingly, IMSM does list “Intel (R) ICH8R/ICH9R/ICH10R/D0/PCH SATA RAID Controller”.
Please advise.
I recommend reinstalling the latest version of the Matrix Storage Manager software for managing your RAID array.
It will likely clear up any issues regarding the displayed name of your RAID controller as well.
Glad it worked for you!
Yes! I reinstall the Matrix Storage Manager and it does display correctly now.
Thank you!
Dr. Nathan: I ran your Raidfix which allowed me to go into my BIOS and set “Raid’. However, upon reboot, I immediately get “Bootmgr is missing” which brings me to a quick halt. Any suggesttions> Many thanks. Michael
Michael,
The RAIDFix application actually has nothing to do with the BIOS – it preps Windows to utilize the RAID controller on your motherboard after enabling it in your BIOS.
That said, your issue does pop up now and again. The best option from here is to boot from the Vista or Windows 7 DVD, depending on what OS you are using and select the “Repair your computer” option when it comes up. From here, you can select to run “Startup Repair” or manually run “bootrec /fixboot” if you choose to load the command prompt from the System Repair menu.
Either of these options should locate your Windows installation and restore the proper pointers to that installation so Windows loads.
Dear Dr. Nathan. I spoke here on this website back in October but subsequently had to return my motherboard to Newegg for another MSI mother board. Again I installed Windows 7 64 bit without the “RAID” indicated in the BIOS> But I did install Iastor.sys into the system32 library. I thought RAIDFIX would fix my problem. Well I tried it and it didn’t work. I ran RAIDFIX, then changed the IDE to RAID in the BIOS and all I get is a blinking cursor at the upper left hand coprner of one of my screens. I get nothing else. Perhaps I coluld get your thoughts. Many thanks.
Michael,
I would try the steps I detailed in the comment above yours to attempt fixing the Boot sequence in Windows. That will likely assist in getting your system to boot.
If by chance you are not using a retail copy *cough* of Windows, I cannot guarantee that RAIDFix will repair your issues. Those releases run special pre-boot processes that I have no insight into, so I cannot say for sure how they affect the Windows RAID detection process.
If you just recently reinstalled 7, I would say your best course of action is to reinstall the OS with the RAID controller enabled if using the boot repair options on the Windows DVD does not work out.
I found your app and tried it out to no avail. I have the P5Q Pro Turbo board. I have Win7 on a tera drive on the SiliconImage chip. I have a 320gb drive, 2xCaviar Black tera drives, and a dvd on the intel southbridge chip, and nothing on the jmicron chip. I ran the app, rebooted and changed bios to raid. I didn’t create a raid volume just yet. I just wanted to boot back to windows. When Win7 starts it just stays stuck at the starting windows screen. I reboot, create a raid volume and same thing. Win7 gets stuck at the starting windows screen. Any help?
Bryan,
I would try using the Startup Repair process found on the Windows DVD as I recommended to another user about 4 posts up. It should straighten everything out for you.
Have you tried booting into Windows with RAID disabled? What happens then?
If you are still having issues, I would be happy to pull the RAID configuration details from my registry and send them your way to see if integrating my settings would repair yours.
I tried the Startup Repair on the DVD and still nothing.
When I do change RAID back to IDE it works as normal.
I’ve tried method 2 and 3 and the RAIDFix program and still nothing.
Any more help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Bryan,
I’m sorry to hear that you are having so many problems. What version of Windows 7 are you using? x86 or x64? I can pull keys from my registry for either OS and get them to you sometime today or tomorrow.
Im running Win 7 Home 64bit.
I didn’t do my research when I bought it or else I would’ve gone with Pro 64 and used the software RAID 1.
Any hack available yet to get software RAID 1 working on Home Premium yet?
Doc Nathan, RAIDFIX worked perfectly. Just lost a hard drive due to a head crash and needless say was willing to pay a lot of money to get it restored but after two companies looked at it was was not recoverable. Now I was able to change my Windows 7 computer to be RAID 1 enabled without reinstalling OS and taking hours to redo. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!! I am now protected from single hard drive failure without redoing my entire system!!! Windows recovery and a bunch or registery hacks did not work but RAIDFIX did!!!!!!!!
Bryan,
This application will not allow any sort of enabling locked-down options in Windows 7.
RAIDFix strictly installs the proper driver components in Windows allowing you to enable Intel RAID controllers after installing Windows.
Besides, you don’t want to mess with software RAID – Software RAID is slow, and if your Windows installation is damaged, so is your RAID configuration (though it is far less important when mirroring rather than striping). You are far better off going the hardware route.
I exported all of my registry settings related to the RAID controller from my Windows 7 x64 installation. You might want to try importing them and rebooting with RAID enabled to see what happens: http://drnathan.teamhackaday.com/misc/W7x64RAID.reg
Thanks Doc. Unfortunately I went ahead and reinstalled Win 7 with RAID enabled in the bios. Luckily it didn’t take me long to get my system back to exactly what it was and on the plus the new drive is a Caviar Black 640 that I picked up for 50 bucks cdn to replace the seagate .11 that was in there.
It’s too bad you had to do a reinstall, but I am glad things are working for you now.
So here’s one for you. I setup up a raid volume in the storage console and it works. I then go into disk management and initialize the disk and create a volume. When I move something to the volume the intel storage console pops up and says that one of the disks has become corrupted. In the storage console I can right click on the disk and select mark as normal and it starts rebuilding the array? Is this normal? Am I going to have to do this everytime I make a change to the volume. My main purpose of this raid 1 setup is to keep my media server backed up.
Bryan,
When you created your RAID 1 volume, did it go through the process of syncing all of your data from your primary disk to the secondary disk? This process usually takes several hours depending on how much data you have on the primary disk. If you haven’t, the Matrix Storage Console will typically report the volume as corrupted or degraded since the data has not been mirrored properly yet.
You should not have to rebuild the array each time you add something to the primary disk – if that is happening over and over, you may have an issue with your controller, the disk, or your cabling that is preventing the RAID controller from properly keeping the disks in sync. Are these disks the same manufacturer/size?
Dr. Nathan,
Ok i have a headache from trying everything i know to dynamically switch to RAID from AHCI. I do not want to reinstall my windows and apps over again. Here is my issue. I have tried everything on this site including your suggestions to everyone’s issue. Only difference is i am using a RAID capable Notebook. I know i could get RAID to work if i start over and use HP’s image that came with the notebook as it contains the OEM registry keys to allow the change from AHCI to RAID. According to HP they dont give consumers these keys as they prefer you use their image. Below is my configuration please help me Dr. Nathan to figure out what those keys are.
HP Elitebook 8530w
Windows 7 Enterprise x86
4 GB PC-6400 Samsung RAM
2 x Intel 80GB SSD Drives
Intel(R) ICH9M-E/M SATA AHCI Controller
Thank you in advance
Adam,
What exactly happens when you try switching from AHCI to RAID? Blue screens as most people have experienced?
If you have not tried it, change the value in the following registry key to “0″ (zero):
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Msahci\Start
This should disable AHCI in Windows. After that, either follow my instructions or try running RAIDFix, then rebooting with RAID enabled.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Menno Schoone, Menno Schoone. Menno Schoone said: Door Charles getipt: Intel RAIDfix (http://drnathan.teamhackaday.com/software/raidfix/), mocht de RAID tijdens setup uit hebben gestaan. [...]
Thank you so much! This totally worked!
great tool and works perfect!
I have just enabled the Intel Matrix Storage on my server Z8PE-D18 board and am now using RAID5 successfully with Windows 7×64.
Side note: I had to change jumper RAID_SEL1 to enable the Intel RAID. This is undocumented in the manual of the ASUS board.
thanks!
Your RAID configuration data is stored on your RAID controller, so switching your drives to a new motherboard would more likely than not render your array unusable.
I was always under the impression the RAID data was stored on the drives.
If you are correct, that means a failure of controller would also render the whole array un-usable. This is definately not the case for real raid controllers, such as PROMISE or Adaptec. Here you can move a Disk array to a brand new controller card and the card will reflect the previously configured Disk array AND BOOT.
http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/imsm/sb/CS-022435.htm
Peter,
I stand corrected, and your statement regarding the location of the configuration metadata is right in most cases.
As for the user I replied to, he was looking to move his array to a completely different controller as there were no further drivers for his motherboard/controller combination that compatible with Windows 7. In that case, while his config was more than likely stored on the drives, different controllers store their metadata in different ways, and he would likely lose his configuration by changing motherboards. Sometimes even variations in firmware revisions make moving a RAID array from a controller to an identical (in hardware) controller impossible.
I have however come across scenarios in the past where it seems the configuration was stored on the RAID card itself.
One that sticks in my mind from several years ago is a Promise RAID controller that was running RAID 5 hosting MS Exchange. The controller failed, and upon moving the array to an identical spare (Yes, same FW revision) we had in-house, the data could not be retrieved. Try as we might, the RAID configuration could not be restored. This might have been specific to the controller we used, but I cannot say for certain.
Thanks for the info!
Bloody brilliant, Doc!
Worked like a charm!….well almost…
I have a dual boot xp/win7 on 1 mirrored raid. I have another raid mirror setup for data only. Win 7 boots up no problem. Xp hangs on boot.
Here’s the thing, if I physically remove the data drives (raid array 2), xp boots fine. So I reinstalled the raid driver (via raidfix) in AHCI mode then rebooted. Same thing. Seems that the second raid mirror makes XP freak out.
Any ideas on how to whip XP (Pro) into shape?
Thanks again for Raidfix!!
Dee
Just to clarify, it’s winxp pro 32 bit and win 7 64 bit. XP will boot if i physically remove the 2nd array or if I ‘unraid’ them. I’ve tried reinstalling via Raidfix but same results always. I’m really at a loss!
Your help would be greatly appreciated!
Dee.
Dee,
Switching from AHCI to RAID is sometimes troublesome, so I want you to try the following:
After running RAIDFix in AHCI mode in Windows XP, change the following setting in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\msahci\Start
My Windows 7 x64 RAID box says this value should be set to “3″ without quotes. Others state that this should be set to “0″.
Try setting it to 3, then rebooting, enabling RAID in the BIOS along the way. If that does not work, try changing it back to AHCI, switching the value in the registry to 0, and rebooting/enabling RAID again.
Let me know how you make out.
Thanks for your suggestion Doc.
I don’t have that entry in my registry! I browsed and searched, nothing came up. Strange, no? Maybe you’re on to something here…
Since that entry is not in your registry, I would search for “AHCI” via regedit. There is likely some setting in there (possibly in the Intel section) asking Windows to look for AHCI.
I would think there will likely be a “Startup” value or similar in the key related to AHCI on your system.
Hi Doc,
There is a start for the intel ahci controller under: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\iastor
and
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\services\iastor
and
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet002\services\iastor
Also, I tried using system restore to go back before raidfix and tried it again. windows dialog pops up searching for a driver for a device (raid I would assume) with the regular options but doesn’t locate the driver properly nnot matter where I point it to. I seem to remember this the first time around as well. But the raid driver does work (for 1 array).
Thanks so much for your help. I’ve searched everywhere and haven’t come across the same problem elsewhere…
Dee
Hey Doc,
Here are some further updates,
Installing the iata89enu file makes the found new hardware wizard go away.
Changing the reg value (current control set) to anything but 0 causes bsod.
Thanks for you help!
Dee
So does that mean your problem is 100% solved, or are you still having issues?
Sorry for not being clear.
The problem is still there.
Whenever the second array is physically plugged in, win xp will hang/spin on boot. If I unplug the 2nd array xp boots fine. Changing the start value on the registry entry causes bsod.
Win7 works fine with both arrays.
Thanks!
Dee
Dee,
What motherboard do you have (brand and model)? It sounds to me like your Intel controller is working fine in XP as you can use one array there. Adding a second array really should not (at least in my experience) cause a BSOD, unless the second array is on a different controller. Some older motherboards use two different controllers, e.g. Intel and Promise to allow for more than one array. This may be the case on your board.
I have an itel DP55WB. It’s not a bsod on boot, it just hangs. That’s why I’m tending to think it’s a registry issue as Win7 boots fine (dual boot system). But I’m plum out of ideas…
I have an Intel DP55WB and everything with this fix worked great except Windows Updates will not run. Windows 7 64bit. As soon as I enable Raid in bios and then boot into windows and try and run windows updates it says the service is not running, but it is. If I go back into bios and change the sata settings back to ide and then boot into windows and run windows updates again it works fine.
I have reloaded Windows 7 and it still does the same thing. Just wondering if anyone else has come across this?
Dee,
The registry settings are typically the same between Windows 7 and XP as far as RAID is concerned – you might try setting a system restore point in XP, then exporting the proper keys from your Windows 7 installation and then importing them into XP. You can find the keys here:
http://drnathan.teamhackaday.com/misc/W7x64RAID.reg
Mike,
That is a pretty odd issue you are having. I have never personally seen the activation or deactivation of SATA RAID affect the ability for Windows to run updates. I assume you have tried stopping and restarting the Windows Update service to no avail.
I’m not sure what your issue might be, and I don’t see anything online regarding this issue. I assume you are using a full, legit copy of Windows, right?
Hi Dr. Nathan,
Well, it turns out that Win7 would get pretty unstable after a while with 2 raid arrays up. I would get bsod’d right out of the os. I removed the array that the os was on and everything is smooth so far. Xp boots as well. Could there be a bad controller chip or some other hardware realated problem? I’m bummed that I don’t have the security of the os raid mirror.
[...] not a new build http://drnathan.teamhackaday.com/software/raidfix/ ftw I only really run firefox, so im not i can be bothered to reinstall everything for that minor [...]
Dee,
If Win7 was having issues with the two arrays, there is definitely something amiss. It could be something wrong with the controller, but then again one would assume the issue would affect all drives then.
Where is your OS, on a standalone drive? RAID0? RAID1?
DrNathan,
The Os is a on a WD320gig dual boot (Xp/Win7) Raid1 array.
Yes, it’s strange alright.
Thanks for your insight!
Hmm, if it’s on RAID1 and you are getting random blue screens, it’s hard to tell what the issue might be. Sure, it could be the controller or disk, I suppose but I would likely think it is something else. Anything interesting in the system logs?
This is a great utility found it while trying to help someone out of a bind, a similar utility for NVidia chipsets would be awesome.
Hi Dr. Nathan,
I messed up when I was using your utility and ran into a problem – I’m hoping that you can give me some advice.
I installed Win 7 on a new PC without initializing RAID in the BIOS. I ran your utility and it worked just great. I was able to initialize RAID and install the Intel Matrix Manager.
After the Intel Matrix manager was installed, I installed the disks from my old RAID 1 array. i could see the disks in Windows but not not in the RAID manager.
I thought that maybe the reason that I couldn’t see the disks was because they were not installed in the PC before I ran the utility so I decided to start over with the disks installed. I ran the Windows Systems Restore utility to a restore point that I created right before I ran your tool, and then re-initialized the BIOS to IDE. The PC rebooted fine in IDE mode.
I then re-ran your tool with the disk installed. The tool ran fine. I rebooted the PC and set the BIOS to RAID. The PC booted, but windows immediately went into a recovery install. It was not able to recovery install correctly, despite running the recovery install several times. So, I once again did a systems restore and rebooted the PC (sucessfully) back into IDE mode.
I subsequently found out that you sometimes need to do a low level format on a disk that has been previously used in a RAID array in a new RAID array – that was probably my original problem.
But now, I can’t re-run your utility successfully to get back to RAID mode. I’d really hate to have to start from scratch and do a clean install.
Any idea about what I might have messed up when I went back to IDE mode, and how I might recover??
Thanks,
Paul
Paul,
Sorry to hear you are having issues with your RAID configuration. The strangest thing to me is that when you do enable RAID using RAIDFix, your system boots into the recovery install.
Reverting to the previous Windows configuration using the system restore should take your system back to exactly how it was before you tried RAIDFix. Offhand, I cannot see any reason as to why reapplying the RAID settings would not get you back up and running in RAID mode.
Have you tried booting with only your first disk connected to the RAID controller after running RAIDFix to see what happens?
Again, I find it odd that it is looking to do a recovery install automatically after running RAIDFix – all of the information related to the booting of your Windows installation should still be intact.
If things continue to be really flaky, you might want to consider installing again from scratch, though I know that is not your preferred course of action.
Thanks for the response.
Not sure why the system is doing this, but took the easy way out … Realized that I have two unused SATA ports that are controlled by a JMicron controller, not the Intel on.
Enabled RAID on that controller, hooked my disks up to that and all set.
Thanks for your help.
This tool is great. Worked well on Dell Optiplex and Precision machines.
Paul,
Within your solution lies my gripe with the Intel/Windows combination. Why does Windows require specific drivers and RAID configuration in the registry for the Intel controller, while the JMicron controller works just fine without any manipulation?
I start to wonder who is responsible for this BSOD issue in the first place, MS or Intel…
[...] http://drnathan.teamhackaday.com/software/raidfix/ __________________ [...]
Works Great!!
Just used the program on a Asus P5Q-E, Windows 7 64-bit install. Now running raid and Intel Storage matrix. Had IDE previously. Thanks so much!!
Kevin, glad to be of help!
Thank you so much! You just saved me about 6 hours of rebuild time. I was looking at your long solution and was seconds away from starting on it, but then, I read some comments and got here! Active migration in progress and will be done in 1.5hrs. Windows 7 32bit worked like a charm. Now I can use this on my home system if I ever break my RAID5 array and have to image to one drive without RAID, but want it back later. Peace of mind. Thanks again.
Intel has released a new Storage Matrix controller software package as of 3/23/2010. Hope to see support for this with RAIDFix soon! Thx!
Chromium,
Thanks for the heads up, I had not seen that. It looks like Intel has changed the name of the software suite again as well. Matrix Storage Manager is no more, Rapid Storage Technology (RST) is the new deal. I am already working on adding it to the app.
Thanks again!
Fantastic, thank you very much!
Fantastic, solved my problem !!!!
it was on a HP Z400 workstation, when I wanted to install a standard Xp Sp3… very good!
Hi,
I posted this on the earlier page on this topic, but I thought I would also post here. I apologize if the double post causes a problem.
I recently built a computer using an Asrock X58 Extreme mobo. I installed Windows 7, but realized only afterward that the mobo’s default setting for the HDDs was IDE rather than SATA. I’d like to implement a RAID configuration, but it appears I need first to get SATA running.
I followed the registry hack instructions to change the “start” parameter for the MSAHCI driver to “0″ (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922976), rebooted, changed the BIOS setting to AHCI and everything worked fine. The SATA drivers loaded and things were looking good!
However, a few days later I had a problem with going into “sleep” mode. The computer hung, and after several minutes I just switched if off and rebooted.
Now, I cannot get it to boot properly with the BIOS in AHCI mode. The registry entries are still the same as when AHCI was working, but it will not boot in SATA mode. I get the message “Problem loading OS”. Changing the BIOS back to IDE allows me to boot.
Any ideas as to what went wrong (was it the hard shutdown that messed me up?), and any ideas on how to get SATA working again?
I’m reluctant to try the RAIDFix program unless I can first understand my problem a little better. I’d hate to really mess things up!
Thanks.
MikieB,
I would try rolling Windows back to the last known good configuration and then trying again. During your hard shutdown, something might have gotten hung up, but it is hard to say what exactly.
You could try RAIDFix, as it will not do anything that would damage your system to the point of not restarting. All it does is install the registry entries used for SATA RAID, as well as the driver. After running RAIDFix, I have been able to use my machine in SATA or IDE mode with no crashing issues at all.
Unfortunately, the problem occurred a couple of weeks ago, so rolling back now (even if I could recall which day the hard shutdown occurred) is difficult.
I ran RAIDFix as you suggested. I’m still having the same problem, though. I can only get the operating system to load if the BIOS is in IDE mode. Both RAID mode and AHCI mode result in the “Problem loading OS” message.
Any other suggestions?
Typically, when there is a severe issue with the RAID controller and the OS, you will find yourself faced with BSODs rather than the “Problem Loading OS” message you are receiving.
In this case, I would try booting from your install disc and seeing how far you can get with the Windows 7 Boot Repair option in the Recovery Console.
I tried as you suggested … booting from the Win 7 install disk and taking the “repair” option. The tests all completed successfully, but other than that nothing has changed.
MikieB,
At this point I personally would likely reinstall Win7. Reinstalling however, depends on how much time you have invested in your current install.
When RAIDFix works, I am more than certain the Windows install is solid, and that it will run without issues. When you start running into the problems you are having, I am more likely to recommend a reinstall.
Is there a way to fix the problem? More likely than not. Would I be willing to put in the time to fix it rather than reinstall? Not too likely.
Thanks, Dr Nathan. Makes sense. The one idea remaining that I haven’t tried is to try this solution (for Vista, I note), which I found on another blog:
Bios setting should be set on IDE mode before attempting this.
You can install the Miscrosoft standard AHCI driver from within Vista
throught Device Manager. In Device Manager select you IDE/Sata cotroller
and properties and selected updriver. The select browse my computer for
driver software. Select let me pict from list. In the screen untick the
box “show compatible hardward”. Scroll dowwn under the Manufactuer
column and select the Standard AHCHI driver and select next. This should
the Microsoft AHCI driver. Reboot. Then go into the bios and change your
IDE configuration to AHCI. Once your reboot you can then install the
AHCI driver for your particular motherboard..
What do you think?
Thanks.
Mike
Mike,
That sounds like a reasonable option to try. I kind of forgot that you can do that for the AHCI driver. I don’t think that works with the RAID driver, but Microsoft’s AHCI driver might do the trick in this instance. I say give it a go.
Hi,
Your application looks nice and I think that it is what I need. But the question is whether you are planning to add to program support for newest version of raid driver (I mean 9.6.0.1014)?
I installed winXP on IDE mode and after quite a long time I decided to buy 2 new HDDs and put them in RAID0 but without reinstalling system. I searched the net and I managed to put my controller into AHCI mode without bsod but now I can’t force it to run on raid mode. I set raid mode in the bios menu, then I use intel tool to create raid array but after that I get blue screen just after windows logo appears. I just can’t load system from my old HDD when raid mode is on.
It looks that your application might resolve my issue but I installed the latest ahci drivers and I don’t want to make a mess in my system by fixing it by 8.9.0.1023 release.
Any help needed.
Regards!
johnnieB,
Yes, I do plan on supporting the newest version of Intel’s RAID driver in my application – it is currently a work in progress.
As for your current situation, you can very easily use RAIDFix to enable RAID with the older driver, then install the new driver once you reboot into Windows. Once the driver is installed and you can boot, you are good to go – the newer driver will install using Intel’s installation package without issue.
Thanks for your reply. I have done what you’ve written and everything is ok – raid mode is on, newest driver installed and also Intel’s Rapid Storage Technology (former matrix storage manager).
Right now I’m testing my raid0 array because I want to check which stripe size is the most optimal for my configuration. Now system starts from old HDD so I can easily delete raid volume and create another one with different stripe size. After that, I want to put fresh installation of winXP on this raid0. Maybe you can suggest something in case of stripe size?
Most guides on this topic are quite old (often written 2 or more years ago) and since then both, controllers and drivers changed so other size might be better.
Once again a lot of thanks for your help and for great application RAIDFix.
Best regards!
johnnieB,
As far as stripe size is concerned, it is all dependent on what you would like to do with the drive. If you are going to use it for your OS, I would use a stripe size somewhere in the middle of the available range, perhaps 64KB. If you are using it for storage of music, movies, etc, I would go with the largest stripe, probably 128KB.
Hope that helps!
OK, here goes… some malicious file kills my laptop, system won’t boot. After hours of research, I try switching the SATA setting in the Bois from AHCI to compatability and voila the computer boots. But doesn’t this kill my RAID setting and can your program fix this?
Thanks!
You switched your BIOS setting from AHCI back to IDE mode?
RAIDFix, run in IDE mode, should install the drivers for SATA RAID mode, enabling you to boot with RAID enabled. I’m not 100% sure on AHCI mode however.
Hi DrNathan
Just wanted to say thank you and that you saved me a lot of time and headaches with your brilliant RAIDFix tool.
I just bought a new PC today with 1 HDD and Win7 preinstalled. After using RAIDFix and switching from AHCI to RAID in BIOS, I could boot again and install Rapid Storage Manager 9.6.0.1014 without a problem.
Data migration is running as I write this. Thanks again for your little tool!
I’m glad to hear it helped with your issues. There’s nothing like avoiding a full Windows reload!
Dear Herr Doktor!
I am trying to fix a friends Dell XPS Gen 2 monster! He had a RAID drive die and screwed up trying to put a very small one in its place that could not hold all data. I have two new drives, but cannot get RAID 1 implemented! Dell is as usual, useless unless you want to spend $59 for them to tell you they can’t help! I got his data recovered, with a TON of software loaded I do NOT want to redo, and ran RAIDfix. After adding Net 3.5, and others wanted, it would boot fine. Now, I assumed (with the usual results!) that I would need but to restart the machine and enable RAID before booting. BEEP! No boot. Data is intact on drive but cannot be accessed, partition fixed, etc. Did I not understand the process. I couldn’t find any real step by step for using RADIfix and then restarting with RAID enabled. HELP!!
Paul,
It honestly looks like you don’t even need RAIDFix. The program is meant to allow you to boot into Windows after enabling RAID when Windows was installed with RAID disabled.
If your friend already had a RAID array established, then Windows was installed with RAID enabled from the beginning.
It sounds like you were able to save one of the hard drives from the original RAID array in its entirety. RAID 1 simply mirrors the data from one physical drive to another, so you should be able to boot into Windows from the drive that survived his attempt at repairing the array.
It sounds however, like something went amiss in the process.
Typically you should be able to boot from the surviving drive, enter the RAID configuration that comes up after the POST, and repair the array.
If you cannot even boot from the surviving disk, I’m not sure what you can do aside from trying to use the Windows recovery tools to get it up and running again.
Dear sir, you are my new hero! After many tiring hours of research some forum hotlinked me to your old tread (http://drnathan.teamhackaday.com/2009/03/09/how-to-enable-intel-ich-raid-after-installing-windows-vista/) and with the help of your RAIDfix it’s all good now.
Thanks a bunch, and keep up the good work!
It’s great to hear from another satisfied customer!
I’m glad to be of help.
Thankyou, Thankyou Thankyou!
I’ve just spent an age trying to get an install of Win XP-64 that was installed in IDE mode to run in AHCI mode. Tried everything, nlite, forced driver install, floppy disc emulators etc. but RAIDfix saved the day!
Just for the record (for anyone else who has the same problem as me):
HP z400 Pre-installed with Win 7
Installed Win XP-64 on separate SATA HD to create a dualboot system (installed with IDE mode selected in BIOS)
When RAID+ACHI is re-enabled in BIOS I get a BSOD as Windows tries to load
Swapped back to IDE mode and ran RAIDfix
Re-booted in RAID+ACHI mode and XP-64 boots normally!
First of all thank you. Your patch helped me.
I have the following configuration:
Port0: dvd (e:)
Port1: reserved for brd (f:)
Port2: non-raid windows 7 hdd (c:)
Port3: non-raid windows xp hdd (d:)
Port4: raid 1 hdd
Port5: raid 1 hdd
I had both win 7 and win xp installed and working before adding 2 hdd and setting up a raid 1 array. I used your patch, I changed the hdd from ide to raid, I selected ports 4 and 5 hdds for the raid array and I rebooted in win 7. I initialized the new raid array and I created a new volume (g:).
The problem is that I cannot see anymore the win xp drive (d:) in win 7, and I cannot boot the win xp os. Both Setup and intel matrix storage manager can see it. What should I do?
Also, I do not know if I will be able to see the raid disk on both os. I would like to solve this problem before i start to use the raid disk.
Thank you again
Mike, it seems that there is a problem with your site: http://drnathan.teamhackaday.com/software/raidfix
I’m getting unresolved host name error. Any chance to get an alternate download link for raidfix.exe?
Regards,
Mike
HI SIRS,
excelent program, but my question if this work to get access to my mobo intel 945gnt, because this mobo dont have the hidden menu to raid option,
ive read all spec of my mobo and comes with raid`s chipset
ive upgrade all bios updates and nothings happens(no raid option)
wiyth this software can i get raid option on my bios menu?
thanks for all your time
dave segura
Very Nice Tool! Made my Day! Also worked with current P67 Chipset under Win7 x64