Folks;

My primary disk, C, died, so I re-installed windows on a new primary drive.  After I did this, I fired up my 3-disk 'storage spaces' server (USB connection to 3 disks with Parity) only to discover that Windows 8 didn't recognize the storage space.  Instead showing 3 un-readable drives.

Instead I was offered the option to reset the drives, which I did.  That didn't help, though.  

I had thought that saving data in this kind of array would have protected my data!  As well, that there would be tools around to help recover the storage space.  

Is there some way I can recover the data in the storage space?

TIA;

Patrick

Hi PatMcHargue,

Considering this storage space is created by three disks with parity.For a parity spaces,we must backup the data and delete prity spaces before we reinstall the Windows.Then recreate parity spaces and restore your data after a clean installation.
Here is a link for reference of this issue:
Storage Spaces Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/11382.storage-spaces-frequently-asked-questions-faq.aspx#How_do_I_prepare_Storage_Spaces_for_upgrading_from_the_Windows_8_Consumer_Preview_to_Windows_8_Release_Preview
"How do I prepare Storage Spaces for upgrading from the Windows 8 Consumer Preview to Windows 8 Release Preview?
Simple and mirror spaces and the data they contain automatically migrate from the Windows 8 Consumer Preview to the Windows 8. However, for parity spaces you must backup your data and delete the parity spaces. At this point, you may upgrade or perform a clean install of Windows 8. After the upgrade or clean installation is complete, you may recreate parity spaces and restore your data."

Best regards

Thanks for answering.  In my case, I think that an Intel Rapid Storage driver caused my issue.  But I didn't think of this until I had 'Reset' each of the storage space disks.

Crikey!

Does that mean that ANY reinstall of the OS will cause a parity-based storage space to be lost?  What about upgrading to Windows 10 from Windows 8/8.1?

I had thought that I could take my storage space from one system to another.  Is there a limitation on parity-based storage spaces moving between systems?  If not, why must the parity-based storage space be deleted before an OD re-install?

Pat

Hi PatMcHargue,

"Does that mean that ANY reinstall of the OS will cause a parity-based storage space to be lost?  "
Based on the article ,the answer is "Yes".

"What about upgrading to Windows 10 from Windows 8/8.1?"
According to my understanding, it is a limitation of the feature and it has nothing to do with the systems. For a parity-based storage space, we should always backup the data before upgrading or reinstalling OS.

"I had thought that I could take my storage space from one system to another."
Yes, we can move them between machines. Just connect the physical disks comprising the pool to the new PC. We can get the answer from the "What happens to Storage Spaces when moving physical disks between servers?" part.

" Is there a limitation on parity-based storage spaces moving between systems?  If not, why must the parity-based storage space be deleted before an OD re-install?"
From now on, I haven`t figured out a good answer to explain this. Since the official article has suggested us to backup the data and recreate it, we would better to take the suggestions. I hope we will figure out a good explanation in the future.

Best r

This seems odd:

1) You CAN take a parity-based storage space set-of-disks, disconnect them from one windows system, and connect it to another windows system and have it work.

2) You CAN NOT disconnect a parity-based storage space set-of-disks from a windows system, upgrade the windows system, reconnect the storage space set-of-disks and have it work.

How is upgrading a windows system from, say, 8.1 to 10, different from simply moving the storage space between systems?

Perhaps the advice is based on using the storage space to store the operating system (windows) on it?

My desire is to update the Windows OS, and to use the storage space i have with the now updated system.  In this case, the OS is not stored on the storage space, but on a separate disk. 

Can you comment on this, please?

BTW - I re-formatted the storage space after unsuccessfully trying to recover it.  I do sincerely hope that better tools to manage, maintain, and upgrade storage spaces will be available in the future.

Pat