redfish
Intelligent Metalhead
- Messages
- 345
- Location
- North Shore Massachusetts
So I just typed up a >500 word post on my iphone, then while exploring the smiley list before posting, I hit something on accident and deleted everything. 
Anyways, here's my situation. I've had a long and painful history of software and driver problems with my computer, and I've replaced virtually every component of my computer, except for the hard drive, all to no avail. I've deliberated for years, but recently my internet adapter drivers and Microsoft Office finally bit the dust, leaving me a virtually useless PC. So, I bit the bullet and ordered two new hard drives last night. (Two, because I plan to run RAID 1 to avoid future corruption problems.) They are WD Caviar Blue 500GB SATAIII hard disks with a 64 MB cache (maybe 16, I don't remember).
So, here's an outline of what I need to do (and what I'll need help with):
1. Uninstall the old hard drive, then install the new drives in a RAID 1 configuration. My motherboard is an ASRock 990 FX Extreme3, and I'm 99% sure it has native RAID support.
2. Install Windows. I vaguely remember something about some special process that must be taken to install windows on a RAID setup.
3. Re-install drivers... I'll have to spend some time digging up everything I need again.
4. Transfer files and programs. This is the part I dread most... I'm pretty sure my old drive is infested with all sorts of nasty viruses, considering I've been engaging in risky browsing for years with no antivirus. I also have a lot of programs that are expensive (at least, they are expensive for my bantam budget) and which I'm not sure if I have any remaining licenses for. The files, I assume I can copy to a flash drive, scan with another computer's antivirus, and then install them on the new drives from there. Is there any way I can do the same with the programs, though? There's a chance that any of them may be corrupted and/or infected, and I don't want to transfer any of my old drive's problems to the new ones.
I'm really nervous about this, so any help would be greatly appreciated... Thanks!
Anyways, here's my situation. I've had a long and painful history of software and driver problems with my computer, and I've replaced virtually every component of my computer, except for the hard drive, all to no avail. I've deliberated for years, but recently my internet adapter drivers and Microsoft Office finally bit the dust, leaving me a virtually useless PC. So, I bit the bullet and ordered two new hard drives last night. (Two, because I plan to run RAID 1 to avoid future corruption problems.) They are WD Caviar Blue 500GB SATAIII hard disks with a 64 MB cache (maybe 16, I don't remember).
So, here's an outline of what I need to do (and what I'll need help with):
1. Uninstall the old hard drive, then install the new drives in a RAID 1 configuration. My motherboard is an ASRock 990 FX Extreme3, and I'm 99% sure it has native RAID support.
2. Install Windows. I vaguely remember something about some special process that must be taken to install windows on a RAID setup.
3. Re-install drivers... I'll have to spend some time digging up everything I need again.
4. Transfer files and programs. This is the part I dread most... I'm pretty sure my old drive is infested with all sorts of nasty viruses, considering I've been engaging in risky browsing for years with no antivirus. I also have a lot of programs that are expensive (at least, they are expensive for my bantam budget) and which I'm not sure if I have any remaining licenses for. The files, I assume I can copy to a flash drive, scan with another computer's antivirus, and then install them on the new drives from there. Is there any way I can do the same with the programs, though? There's a chance that any of them may be corrupted and/or infected, and I don't want to transfer any of my old drive's problems to the new ones.
I'm really nervous about this, so any help would be greatly appreciated... Thanks!
