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Hardware and Windows Vista Hardware issues in relation to Windows Vista. (microsoft.public.windows.vista.hardware_devices) |
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The Dangers of RAID and Vista
Two weeks ago, I purchased two WD Black Caviar 1TB drives after the third
(count them) Maxtor external drive gave out on me within a 1 1/2 year period; this time wiping out all of my work, music, pictures, documents, etc. I managed to regain 2/3 of it back by using a restoration software I purchased. I moved the restored files onto one of the newly purchased drives that I had setup using Raid 1 (Mirroring). For whatever reason, it did not work. Busy, I thought nothing of it and was just going to use my backup software to make copies of the first drive to the second on a daily basis. Then, earlier this week I saw a "recommended update" from Microsoft for Raid. So I downloaded it and installed it, then rebooted. When my computer came back up, my two drives disappeared. No need to panic, I performed a system restore which brought the drives back, but ALL of the files from disk one had disappeared. Then I began to panic. I used me restoration software again, but this time there was absolutely nothing to be extracted from the drive. Then for whatever reason, I restored my computer back to the point when I had downloaded the updates causing the drives to disappear again. Frustrated, I went back again only to find that the drives would no longer appear. Finally, I gave up and did a fresh install of Vista64. Still the drives did not show up. After installing all of the updates and what not, I decided to go into disk management and there they were as raw data waiting to be formatted. Now, I don't know exactly what happened here, but the fact that these two formatted 1TB discs were now raw leads me to believe that this was not an error on my part, rather something to do with the Windows Raid update I had installed on the computer. If I seem relatively calm, it's because I've had a couple of days to get over it. However, you better believe that some ears should have been burning and the snowcaps melting in Redmond prior to writing this comment. At this point, I have lost everything. Not only burned a multitude of times by Maxtor (whom I will never purchase again) but by the very operating system that I have until now been 100% faithful too. Microsoft, you are making it very hard for me to justify my allegiance. With the upcoming release of Windows 7 (which I've already tinkered with and enjoy oh so much better than Vista) I am in process of ordering all new parts to build a new computer this next week. Perhaps I should re-think that and bite the bullet and go for a Mac. It can't be that much worse could it? |
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The Dangers of RAID and Vista
Why RAID is (usually) a Terrible Idea
http://www.pugetsystems.com/articles?&id=29 RAID Explained http://www.pugetsystems.com/articles.php?id=24 "whiwo" wrote in message ... Two weeks ago, I purchased two WD Black Caviar 1TB drives after the third (count them) Maxtor external drive gave out on me within a 1 1/2 year period; this time wiping out all of my work, music, pictures, documents, etc. I managed to regain 2/3 of it back by using a restoration software I purchased. I moved the restored files onto one of the newly purchased drives that I had setup using Raid 1 (Mirroring). For whatever reason, it did not work. Busy, I thought nothing of it and was just going to use my backup software to make copies of the first drive to the second on a daily basis. Then, earlier this week I saw a "recommended update" from Microsoft for Raid. So I downloaded it and installed it, then rebooted. When my computer came back up, my two drives disappeared. No need to panic, I performed a system restore which brought the drives back, but ALL of the files from disk one had disappeared. Then I began to panic. I used me restoration software again, but this time there was absolutely nothing to be extracted from the drive. Then for whatever reason, I restored my computer back to the point when I had downloaded the updates causing the drives to disappear again. Frustrated, I went back again only to find that the drives would no longer appear. Finally, I gave up and did a fresh install of Vista64. Still the drives did not show up. After installing all of the updates and what not, I decided to go into disk management and there they were as raw data waiting to be formatted. Now, I don't know exactly what happened here, but the fact that these two formatted 1TB discs were now raw leads me to believe that this was not an error on my part, rather something to do with the Windows Raid update I had installed on the computer. If I seem relatively calm, it's because I've had a couple of days to get over it. However, you better believe that some ears should have been burning and the snowcaps melting in Redmond prior to writing this comment. At this point, I have lost everything. Not only burned a multitude of times by Maxtor (whom I will never purchase again) but by the very operating system that I have until now been 100% faithful too. Microsoft, you are making it very hard for me to justify my allegiance. With the upcoming release of Windows 7 (which I've already tinkered with and enjoy oh so much better than Vista) I am in process of ordering all new parts to build a new computer this next week. Perhaps I should re-think that and bite the bullet and go for a Mac. It can't be that much worse could it? |
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The Dangers of RAID and Vista
You don't install drivers from MS update unless the drivers are for MS
hardware, you obtain drivers, and then only *if necessary* to cure a bug or give greater functionality from the hw manufacturers sites A mirror raid is not a replacement for a data backup "If it aint broke dont fix it" "whiwo" wrote in message ... Two weeks ago, I purchased two WD Black Caviar 1TB drives after the third (count them) Maxtor external drive gave out on me within a 1 1/2 year period; this time wiping out all of my work, music, pictures, documents, etc. I managed to regain 2/3 of it back by using a restoration software I purchased. I moved the restored files onto one of the newly purchased drives that I had setup using Raid 1 (Mirroring). For whatever reason, it did not work. Busy, I thought nothing of it and was just going to use my backup software to make copies of the first drive to the second on a daily basis. Then, earlier this week I saw a "recommended update" from Microsoft for Raid. So I downloaded it and installed it, then rebooted. When my computer came back up, my two drives disappeared. No need to panic, I performed a system restore which brought the drives back, but ALL of the files from disk one had disappeared. Then I began to panic. I used me restoration software again, but this time there was absolutely nothing to be extracted from the drive. Then for whatever reason, I restored my computer back to the point when I had downloaded the updates causing the drives to disappear again. Frustrated, I went back again only to find that the drives would no longer appear. Finally, I gave up and did a fresh install of Vista64. Still the drives did not show up. After installing all of the updates and what not, I decided to go into disk management and there they were as raw data waiting to be formatted. Now, I don't know exactly what happened here, but the fact that these two formatted 1TB discs were now raw leads me to believe that this was not an error on my part, rather something to do with the Windows Raid update I had installed on the computer. If I seem relatively calm, it's because I've had a couple of days to get over it. However, you better believe that some ears should have been burning and the snowcaps melting in Redmond prior to writing this comment. At this point, I have lost everything. Not only burned a multitude of times by Maxtor (whom I will never purchase again) but by the very operating system that I have until now been 100% faithful too. Microsoft, you are making it very hard for me to justify my allegiance. With the upcoming release of Windows 7 (which I've already tinkered with and enjoy oh so much better than Vista) I am in process of ordering all new parts to build a new computer this next week. Perhaps I should re-think that and bite the bullet and go for a Mac. It can't be that much worse could it? |
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The Dangers of RAID and Vista
Thank you for that bit of information. Apparently, I was the 3% loss of data
mentioned in the article. Alright, so I'll use my Syncback software that I had always used, which works flawlessly and back up to both hard drives. I'll break down and go ahead and purchase a new external hard drive. Any recommendations other than Maxtor because they suck. They overheat, have poor lifespan, and a one year warranty practically guaranteed to be useless since that's about the time they give out. Frankly, if someone wanted to get into that business, they would offer a really solid external drive with large capacity and a 5 year warranty at a premium price. The catch? They could also offer free restoration services if it fails during that time frame. Now that would be backing up your product. I can't afford a server at the moment, which is probably the direction I need to go. I'm thinking about using the Mozy service in conjunction with the aforementioned strategies. Right now on Comcast and their slow speeds that wouldn't be realistic, but I have AT&T coming in Monday to install their U-verse service and a 18mb connection. Then, it may be practical. "Carey Frisch [MVP]" wrote: Why RAID is (usually) a Terrible Idea http://www.pugetsystems.com/articles?&id=29 RAID Explained http://www.pugetsystems.com/articles.php?id=24 "whiwo" wrote in message ... Two weeks ago, I purchased two WD Black Caviar 1TB drives after the third (count them) Maxtor external drive gave out on me within a 1 1/2 year period; this time wiping out all of my work, music, pictures, documents, etc. I managed to regain 2/3 of it back by using a restoration software I purchased. I moved the restored files onto one of the newly purchased drives that I had setup using Raid 1 (Mirroring). For whatever reason, it did not work. Busy, I thought nothing of it and was just going to use my backup software to make copies of the first drive to the second on a daily basis. Then, earlier this week I saw a "recommended update" from Microsoft for Raid. So I downloaded it and installed it, then rebooted. When my computer came back up, my two drives disappeared. No need to panic, I performed a system restore which brought the drives back, but ALL of the files from disk one had disappeared. Then I began to panic. I used me restoration software again, but this time there was absolutely nothing to be extracted from the drive. Then for whatever reason, I restored my computer back to the point when I had downloaded the updates causing the drives to disappear again. Frustrated, I went back again only to find that the drives would no longer appear. Finally, I gave up and did a fresh install of Vista64. Still the drives did not show up. After installing all of the updates and what not, I decided to go into disk management and there they were as raw data waiting to be formatted. Now, I don't know exactly what happened here, but the fact that these two formatted 1TB discs were now raw leads me to believe that this was not an error on my part, rather something to do with the Windows Raid update I had installed on the computer. If I seem relatively calm, it's because I've had a couple of days to get over it. However, you better believe that some ears should have been burning and the snowcaps melting in Redmond prior to writing this comment. At this point, I have lost everything. Not only burned a multitude of times by Maxtor (whom I will never purchase again) but by the very operating system that I have until now been 100% faithful too. Microsoft, you are making it very hard for me to justify my allegiance. With the upcoming release of Windows 7 (which I've already tinkered with and enjoy oh so much better than Vista) I am in process of ordering all new parts to build a new computer this next week. Perhaps I should re-think that and bite the bullet and go for a Mac. It can't be that much worse could it? |
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The Dangers of RAID and Vista
I have experienced problems with onboard raid, the mobo manufacturer Asus
admitted there had been problems, which they had thought had been cured by a bios update, it hadnt. In my specific case I found, when I broke the mirror, that data & some apps were on one drive but not on its mirror drive. I then purchased an dedicted hardware raid card (retail cost $350) which has worked flawlessly for the last 2 years on a sys that runs 24/7 Its allso the case that a slightly iffy pwr supply can cause problems (or cheap pwr supply, when compared to a high end one) Just look at the price of a mobo with onboard raid and compare it to a dedicated HW raid card, generally you will find the card costs at least 3 times as much as the mobo; which must be an indication of something. "whiwo" wrote in message ... Thank you for that bit of information. Apparently, I was the 3% loss of data mentioned in the article. Alright, so I'll use my Syncback software that I had always used, which works flawlessly and back up to both hard drives. I'll break down and go ahead and purchase a new external hard drive. Any recommendations other than Maxtor because they suck. They overheat, have poor lifespan, and a one year warranty practically guaranteed to be useless since that's about the time they give out. Frankly, if someone wanted to get into that business, they would offer a really solid external drive with large capacity and a 5 year warranty at a premium price. The catch? They could also offer free restoration services if it fails during that time frame. Now that would be backing up your product. I can't afford a server at the moment, which is probably the direction I need to go. I'm thinking about using the Mozy service in conjunction with the aforementioned strategies. Right now on Comcast and their slow speeds that wouldn't be realistic, but I have AT&T coming in Monday to install their U-verse service and a 18mb connection. Then, it may be practical. "Carey Frisch [MVP]" wrote: Why RAID is (usually) a Terrible Idea http://www.pugetsystems.com/articles?&id=29 RAID Explained http://www.pugetsystems.com/articles.php?id=24 "whiwo" wrote in message ... Two weeks ago, I purchased two WD Black Caviar 1TB drives after the third (count them) Maxtor external drive gave out on me within a 1 1/2 year period; this time wiping out all of my work, music, pictures, documents, etc. I managed to regain 2/3 of it back by using a restoration software I purchased. I moved the restored files onto one of the newly purchased drives that I had setup using Raid 1 (Mirroring). For whatever reason, it did not work. Busy, I thought nothing of it and was just going to use my backup software to make copies of the first drive to the second on a daily basis. Then, earlier this week I saw a "recommended update" from Microsoft for Raid. So I downloaded it and installed it, then rebooted. When my computer came back up, my two drives disappeared. No need to panic, I performed a system restore which brought the drives back, but ALL of the files from disk one had disappeared. Then I began to panic. I used me restoration software again, but this time there was absolutely nothing to be extracted from the drive. Then for whatever reason, I restored my computer back to the point when I had downloaded the updates causing the drives to disappear again. Frustrated, I went back again only to find that the drives would no longer appear. Finally, I gave up and did a fresh install of Vista64. Still the drives did not show up. After installing all of the updates and what not, I decided to go into disk management and there they were as raw data waiting to be formatted. Now, I don't know exactly what happened here, but the fact that these two formatted 1TB discs were now raw leads me to believe that this was not an error on my part, rather something to do with the Windows Raid update I had installed on the computer. If I seem relatively calm, it's because I've had a couple of days to get over it. However, you better believe that some ears should have been burning and the snowcaps melting in Redmond prior to writing this comment. At this point, I have lost everything. Not only burned a multitude of times by Maxtor (whom I will never purchase again) but by the very operating system that I have until now been 100% faithful too. Microsoft, you are making it very hard for me to justify my allegiance. With the upcoming release of Windows 7 (which I've already tinkered with and enjoy oh so much better than Vista) I am in process of ordering all new parts to build a new computer this next week. Perhaps I should re-think that and bite the bullet and go for a Mac. It can't be that much worse could it? |
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The Dangers of RAID and Vista
Thanks DL, I'll look into it and take it into consideration. I just find it
frustrating that these companies put out product (i.e. hard drives) that are supposed to keep your files protected knowing full well they don't last beyond the warranty (usually a year). I decided on the two external hard drives as an alternate option, but it just seems like there is no perfect solution short of backing everything up to DVD, which in this day and age just isn't practical. I've got my wishlist at Newegg ready to go and will definitely check out a separate raid controller as opposed to the onboard one provided with my motherboard. "DL" wrote: I have experienced problems with onboard raid, the mobo manufacturer Asus admitted there had been problems, which they had thought had been cured by a bios update, it hadnt. In my specific case I found, when I broke the mirror, that data & some apps were on one drive but not on its mirror drive. I then purchased an dedicted hardware raid card (retail cost $350) which has worked flawlessly for the last 2 years on a sys that runs 24/7 Its allso the case that a slightly iffy pwr supply can cause problems (or cheap pwr supply, when compared to a high end one) Just look at the price of a mobo with onboard raid and compare it to a dedicated HW raid card, generally you will find the card costs at least 3 times as much as the mobo; which must be an indication of something. "whiwo" wrote in message ... Thank you for that bit of information. Apparently, I was the 3% loss of data mentioned in the article. Alright, so I'll use my Syncback software that I had always used, which works flawlessly and back up to both hard drives. I'll break down and go ahead and purchase a new external hard drive. Any recommendations other than Maxtor because they suck. They overheat, have poor lifespan, and a one year warranty practically guaranteed to be useless since that's about the time they give out. Frankly, if someone wanted to get into that business, they would offer a really solid external drive with large capacity and a 5 year warranty at a premium price. The catch? They could also offer free restoration services if it fails during that time frame. Now that would be backing up your product. I can't afford a server at the moment, which is probably the direction I need to go. I'm thinking about using the Mozy service in conjunction with the aforementioned strategies. Right now on Comcast and their slow speeds that wouldn't be realistic, but I have AT&T coming in Monday to install their U-verse service and a 18mb connection. Then, it may be practical. "Carey Frisch [MVP]" wrote: Why RAID is (usually) a Terrible Idea http://www.pugetsystems.com/articles?&id=29 RAID Explained http://www.pugetsystems.com/articles.php?id=24 "whiwo" wrote in message ... Two weeks ago, I purchased two WD Black Caviar 1TB drives after the third (count them) Maxtor external drive gave out on me within a 1 1/2 year period; this time wiping out all of my work, music, pictures, documents, etc. I managed to regain 2/3 of it back by using a restoration software I purchased. I moved the restored files onto one of the newly purchased drives that I had setup using Raid 1 (Mirroring). For whatever reason, it did not work. Busy, I thought nothing of it and was just going to use my backup software to make copies of the first drive to the second on a daily basis. Then, earlier this week I saw a "recommended update" from Microsoft for Raid. So I downloaded it and installed it, then rebooted. When my computer came back up, my two drives disappeared. No need to panic, I performed a system restore which brought the drives back, but ALL of the files from disk one had disappeared. Then I began to panic. I used me restoration software again, but this time there was absolutely nothing to be extracted from the drive. Then for whatever reason, I restored my computer back to the point when I had downloaded the updates causing the drives to disappear again. Frustrated, I went back again only to find that the drives would no longer appear. Finally, I gave up and did a fresh install of Vista64. Still the drives did not show up. After installing all of the updates and what not, I decided to go into disk management and there they were as raw data waiting to be formatted. Now, I don't know exactly what happened here, but the fact that these two formatted 1TB discs were now raw leads me to believe that this was not an error on my part, rather something to do with the Windows Raid update I had installed on the computer. If I seem relatively calm, it's because I've had a couple of days to get over it. However, you better believe that some ears should have been burning and the snowcaps melting in Redmond prior to writing this comment. At this point, I have lost everything. Not only burned a multitude of times by Maxtor (whom I will never purchase again) but by the very operating system that I have until now been 100% faithful too. Microsoft, you are making it very hard for me to justify my allegiance. With the upcoming release of Windows 7 (which I've already tinkered with and enjoy oh so much better than Vista) I am in process of ordering all new parts to build a new computer this next week. Perhaps I should re-think that and bite the bullet and go for a Mac. It can't be that much worse could it? |
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The Dangers of RAID and Vista
Seagate, over here, have 5 year warranties, Sansung 2 or 3
Having said that I rma'd 3 Samsung drives less than 6 month old "whiwo" wrote in message ... Thanks DL, I'll look into it and take it into consideration. I just find it frustrating that these companies put out product (i.e. hard drives) that are supposed to keep your files protected knowing full well they don't last beyond the warranty (usually a year). I decided on the two external hard drives as an alternate option, but it just seems like there is no perfect solution short of backing everything up to DVD, which in this day and age just isn't practical. I've got my wishlist at Newegg ready to go and will definitely check out a separate raid controller as opposed to the onboard one provided with my motherboard. "DL" wrote: I have experienced problems with onboard raid, the mobo manufacturer Asus admitted there had been problems, which they had thought had been cured by a bios update, it hadnt. In my specific case I found, when I broke the mirror, that data & some apps were on one drive but not on its mirror drive. I then purchased an dedicted hardware raid card (retail cost $350) which has worked flawlessly for the last 2 years on a sys that runs 24/7 Its allso the case that a slightly iffy pwr supply can cause problems (or cheap pwr supply, when compared to a high end one) Just look at the price of a mobo with onboard raid and compare it to a dedicated HW raid card, generally you will find the card costs at least 3 times as much as the mobo; which must be an indication of something. "whiwo" wrote in message ... Thank you for that bit of information. Apparently, I was the 3% loss of data mentioned in the article. Alright, so I'll use my Syncback software that I had always used, which works flawlessly and back up to both hard drives. I'll break down and go ahead and purchase a new external hard drive. Any recommendations other than Maxtor because they suck. They overheat, have poor lifespan, and a one year warranty practically guaranteed to be useless since that's about the time they give out. Frankly, if someone wanted to get into that business, they would offer a really solid external drive with large capacity and a 5 year warranty at a premium price. The catch? They could also offer free restoration services if it fails during that time frame. Now that would be backing up your product. I can't afford a server at the moment, which is probably the direction I need to go. I'm thinking about using the Mozy service in conjunction with the aforementioned strategies. Right now on Comcast and their slow speeds that wouldn't be realistic, but I have AT&T coming in Monday to install their U-verse service and a 18mb connection. Then, it may be practical. "Carey Frisch [MVP]" wrote: Why RAID is (usually) a Terrible Idea http://www.pugetsystems.com/articles?&id=29 RAID Explained http://www.pugetsystems.com/articles.php?id=24 "whiwo" wrote in message ... Two weeks ago, I purchased two WD Black Caviar 1TB drives after the third (count them) Maxtor external drive gave out on me within a 1 1/2 year period; this time wiping out all of my work, music, pictures, documents, etc. I managed to regain 2/3 of it back by using a restoration software I purchased. I moved the restored files onto one of the newly purchased drives that I had setup using Raid 1 (Mirroring). For whatever reason, it did not work. Busy, I thought nothing of it and was just going to use my backup software to make copies of the first drive to the second on a daily basis. Then, earlier this week I saw a "recommended update" from Microsoft for Raid. So I downloaded it and installed it, then rebooted. When my computer came back up, my two drives disappeared. No need to panic, I performed a system restore which brought the drives back, but ALL of the files from disk one had disappeared. Then I began to panic. I used me restoration software again, but this time there was absolutely nothing to be extracted from the drive. Then for whatever reason, I restored my computer back to the point when I had downloaded the updates causing the drives to disappear again. Frustrated, I went back again only to find that the drives would no longer appear. Finally, I gave up and did a fresh install of Vista64. Still the drives did not show up. After installing all of the updates and what not, I decided to go into disk management and there they were as raw data waiting to be formatted. Now, I don't know exactly what happened here, but the fact that these two formatted 1TB discs were now raw leads me to believe that this was not an error on my part, rather something to do with the Windows Raid update I had installed on the computer. If I seem relatively calm, it's because I've had a couple of days to get over it. However, you better believe that some ears should have been burning and the snowcaps melting in Redmond prior to writing this comment. At this point, I have lost everything. Not only burned a multitude of times by Maxtor (whom I will never purchase again) but by the very operating system that I have until now been 100% faithful too. Microsoft, you are making it very hard for me to justify my allegiance. With the upcoming release of Windows 7 (which I've already tinkered with and enjoy oh so much better than Vista) I am in process of ordering all new parts to build a new computer this next week. Perhaps I should re-think that and bite the bullet and go for a Mac. It can't be that much worse could it? |