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hogwell · ‎02-24-2018

I have a Z370 motherboard (TUF Gaming Pro) which is currently set up with Windows 10 Pro on a single Samsung 850 EVO and with two 3TB HDD's.
The SATA mode is configured as AHCI in the BIOS.

Now, I would like to Mirror (RAID1) the two 3TB HDD's and leave the SSD as-is on drive C: to boot from.

However, when I enable RST on the SATA controller (Switch from AHCI to RAID) in the BIOS, the system will not boot.
So, I downloaded the Intel RST software for Windows 10 and installed it. However, it will still not boot unless I return the SATA to AHCI mode first..

Is there any way to activate the Intel RST driver at boot time without reinstalling Windows 10 completely from scratch so I can run the SATA controller in RAID mode in order to set up a mirrored config on my data HDD's?

Thanks for any help or advice from those who have been down this road before.

Deepcuts · ‎02-24-2018

The tip for W8 works in W10
From: http://www.overclock.net/forum/20-hard-drives-storage/1227636-how-change-sata-modes-after-windows-in...

Change to RAID mode from AHCI mode and vice versa:
If currently installed, uninstall your RAID or AHCI SATA driver (for intel, intel rapid storage technology)
Basically open msconfig -> boot tab -> check safe boot -> restart
Go into UEFI/BIOS and set SATA mode to which ever one you want
Boot up into windows safe mode
Open msconfig again -> under the main menu tab (general) click the normal startup circle - > restart
Your system should boot into windows fine and you can install your AHCI or RAID driver.

hogwell · ‎02-24-2018

Thanks.... I will try that.

I had found the old post you referenced about using msconfig this way, but wasn't confident it would be that simple or would work on Windows 10.

I am wondering if using the Windows 10 Disk Management mirroring (in AHCI mode) would be a better option to mirror the data drive...

hogwell · ‎02-25-2018

This is an interesting analysis of RST vs Windows RAID techniques:
https://foxdeploy.com/2015/10/30/windows-vs-intel-raid-performance-smackdown/

Based on this, it looks like Windows RAID1 has the same performance as Intel RST hardware on the ASUS motherboards.

Deepcuts · ‎02-25-2018

Since Windows 7, I have used software RAID exclusively and I R happy with it, performance wise.
Too much of a hassle with Intel RAID for no extra benefit. I actually lost data because of Intel RAID. Never because of Windows software RAID.

hogwell · ‎02-26-2018

I'm experimenting with the Windows RAID mirroring.

So far, so good.

Except... Synching (sic) the 3TB took hours.

Then I updated my drivers and BIOS to 606, the resynching was triggered again!

A word to the wise... update your BIOS BEFORE setting up RAID.
A word to the wiser... read the forum about the BIOS update, which installs the sluggish Intel Microcode for Spectre.
I probably should have left my old BIOS in place, at least until ASUS can include the latest, slightly better Intel microcode release (84).

Activating SATA RAID mode without reinstalling Windows