Replace a failed hard drive in a Windows 7 software RAID 1 volume.
The Microsoft Windows 7 operating system features the ability to configure a fault tolerant storage solution referred to as RAID 1 or "mirroring." RAID 1 technology is designed to synchronize two hard drives such that if one drive fails, the other continues to operate and perform reads and writes so that there is no down time or lost data. If a hard drive in a RAID 1 configuration fails, it should be replaced immediately to avoid data loss. Replace a failed hard drive in a Windows 7 software RAID 1 configuration using the Disk Management utility.
Instructions
1. Log on to the computer using account credentials that have Administrator permissions. Click the "Start" button located on the Windows 7 desktop and then click in the "Search" box and type "diskmgmt.msc" in the box. Press the "Enter" key and the "Disk Management" window will appear.
2. Right-click on the drive marked "Failed Redundancy" and then click "Remove Mirror" in the menu that appears. Click on the failed hard drive listed in the "Remove Mirror" window and then click the "Remove Mirror" button.
3. Shut down the computer. Replace the failed hard drive with an identical hard drive in working condition. Boot the computer.
4. Click the "Start" button on the Windows 7 desktop, then click in the "Search" box and type "diskmgmt.msc" and press the "Enter" key. Click the "OK" button in the small "Initialize Disk" window that appears in front of the "Disk Management" window in order to initialize the new hard drive. If the new drive has partitions on the disk, right click on the partitions and click "Delete Volume" in the menu that appears. Click the "OK" button to confirm that you wish to delete the partitions. Then right-click on the new drive and click "Add Mirror" in the menu that appears.
5. Select one of the disks to be added to the RAID 1 array and click the "Add" button in the "New Mirrored Volume" window. Select the second disk to be added to the RAID 1 array and click the "Add" button. Click the "Next" button. Click the "Yes" button in the window that appears to confirm that you wish to configure the disks as "Dynamic Disks." The drives will resynchronize in the background and are then ready for use.
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