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Add Intel RAID Drivers to existing Windows 7 install BEFORE enabling RAID in BIOS?


I'm trying to:



  • Take a system image of my current WIndows 7 x64 setup, which is using IDE-mode storage

  • Enable RAID in the BIOS

  • Install two new drives and set up a RAID mirror

  • Restore my system image onto the new mirrored C: drive


The problem is - my existing Windows 7 install won't boot if the storage controller is set to RAID or AHCI mode (instead of IDE) in the BIOS.


The Windows 7 system recovery process works fine - will quite happily restore my old C: drive image onto the new mirrored C: drive - but then this won't boot, either.


I'm guessing that I need to install the Intel Matrix Storage Manager RAID drivers - but if I try to do this with the BIOS configured to use IDE, the installer reports:


"This computer does not meet the minimum requirements for installing the software."


So - I can't boot with RAID enabled in order to install the drivers, and I can't install the drivers first in order to boot with RAID enabled.


Any bright ideas? Really rather not reinstall if I can help it.



Answer



This was by far the simplest solution I could find. The others involved reinstalling windows, downloading sketchy software or large registry hacks.


1) With RAID disabled, boot into Windows and start Regedit.exe


2) Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\iaStorV


3) In the right-hand column, you should see a value named Start. Double-click this entry and change the data from 1 to 0.


4) Reboot with RAID enabled – Windows should load just fine. Now install the Intel Matrix Storage Manager as you usually would. This time around, it should detect your hardware and install without any issues.


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