Ask a new question

Windows 10 & RAID 5

I have read many treads concerning Windows 10 and RAID configuration but none seem to actually come up with a definitive answer. I had a Widows 7 Pro setup running 4 matched 500GB SATA drives in a RAID 5 configuration. This was upgrade to Windows 8 and the Windows 8.1 all without issue. About a month ago I took the free upgrade to Windows 10. This appeared to work well. Like all new installs there was a lot of updates to be installed, these were encouraged by forcing the system to look for new updates. After a couple of weeks the computer BIOS reported that the "SPARE" drive was unidentifiable but still worked (Windows loaded without incident). Last week however the drive must have failed as Windows would not load. I eventually identified that with the failed drive disconnected, and after multiple attempts to boot, (Windows frequently freezing at the chasing dots stage), Windows 10 would start in Safe Mode (not a straight forward task these days). While in Safe Mode, I checked the Intel RAID monitoring software which was rebuilding the array. This is very strange as the BIOS did not report this / agree that the array had degraded. I have replaced the forth drive, but still I can not guarantee that the PC will boot into Windows 10. After a RAID rebuild, the PC sometimes starts but not usually twice on the run. I read that Intel software needed updating. I did this via a USB stick but Widows would not reboot after that! A Restore via the Repair screen removed it, but still no Windows 10 boot up - currently in Safe Mode rebuilding the RAID array. I tried reverting back to Windows 8.1 but got the message that this was not possible at this time. I feel I have exhausted my knowledge, any suggestions? 
 Hi,

Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community. 
 

The issue that you are facing is more complex than what is typically answered in the Microsoft Answers forums. It would be more appropriate to redirect your query to the IT Professionals on TechNet Forums.You can click on the link below to post your query in TechNet forum.

Hope it helps. Please reply us if you face any issues in future. We will be glad to help you.

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

 Hi,

Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community. 
 

The issue that you are facing is more complex than what is typically answered in the Microsoft Answers forums. It would be more appropriate to redirect your query to the IT Professionals on TechNet Forums.You can click on the link below to post your query in TechNet forum.

Hope it helps. Please reply us if you face any issues in future. We will be glad to help you.
Many thanks for your suggestion but I get the message "not available at this time". 

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

 Hi,

Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community. 
 

The issue that you are facing is more complex than what is typically answered in the Microsoft Answers forums. It would be more appropriate to redirect your query to the IT Professionals on TechNet Forums.You can click on the link below to post your query in TechNet forum.

Hope it helps. Please reply us if you face any issues in future. We will be glad to help you.
Many thanks for your suggestion but I get the message "not available at this time". 

Once again , many thanks for your guidance. I did not get a full answer from Social Technet Support, but the issue is now resolved (or appears to be). 

After multiple attempts to reboot into Windows 10 and subsequent RAID rebuilds, I left the PC in safe mode overnight this left the hard drive light busy yet the Intel software saying the rebuild was complete.

The next morning, I gingerly restarted the PC, and after an extended boot period and windows apparently rechecking my files, the PC showed the sign on screen. 

Once I had Windows 10 running, I left the PC on for nearly a week. This was mainly because I was concerned I'd not get it to boot again and also waiting delivery of two 2TB drives to do a hot swap (one at a time and rebuild). 

Since installing the replacement drives (despite software say there was no issue with my original drives) I have not had any further problems. 

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

 
 

Question Info

Last updated April 18, 2025 Views 4,324 Applies to: