I have a RAID0 set. My wish is to stop using it. Don't need 2 tb of space. It was originally just a test for performance comparison. Using Windows System Backup all partitions were backed up and a restore disc created. My question is whether a restore can be done on a non-Raid drive? Since this is not a clone image the drive size can be different, but does the fact that it is from a raid drive set make a difference. I will be using one of the Raid drives so there will be no turning back. The backup contains Windows 7 RC 32 bit, Windows 7 RC 64 bit and a data partition, plus the little partition that is made at install of Windows 7. JB

If you want to restore the current system, it may not work. However, you can get data back from the backup image files. The following steps help us to mount VHD to be a virtual hard drive in Windows 7 system. After you reinstall the system, in the new system you could mount the backup image VHD files and get data from it. Mount the VHD file to a drive letter, and then performing a copy to the drive. ==================================== 1. Open Disk Management. 2. Click Action, Attach VHD. 3. Browse to the location of the system image backup. Note: You may see an access denied error when trying to open the WindowsImageBackup folder. If so you will need to click Continue on the prompt to gain access. If that does not enable you to access the folder, you will need to take ownership of the folder, and grant Administrators permissions to the folder. 4. When you open the \WindowsImageBackup\<Computername>\Backup <date and time> folder you will typically see more than one VHD files. One for the System partition and one for the Windows partition. 5. Start by selecting the largest VHD file and click Open. Then click OK. 6. The drive should now be available in Windows Explorer for file copy. Note: There is an option to attach the VHD file as a read only disk, but that may not properly mount the drive. Do not use this read only option. Important: If this VHD file is the only location where the data is stored, be very cautious of how you manipulate files on the drive. You may test in another system that is not installed on a RAID drive first.Arthur Xie - MSFT

Hello Arthur, Thank you for replying. Let me further explain my intent. I would like to now do away with my Raid 0 array and go back to a regular single SATA drive. Using Windows 7 install disc in repair I want to restore my backup. In this process one of he hard drives of the RAID array will be formated and partitioned. The BIOS will be set to IDE/SATA. Now the system will be a non-raid system. My backup was a System backup and not a Computer backup. Only 4 partitions were involved. I want to restore the 4 partitions to the one drive. The total restore is less than 350 gigs. Can this be done in the fashion proposed? The method you describe involves an operating system running and in use. Mine would be from a startup DVD. My main concern is that the backup is of a raid array and my restore will be to a regular sata drive. Does that cause problems? This is my first ever attempt with Raid array there is no awareness of raid conflicts. With a RAID 0 array if one drive goes bad all is lost. To protect this two other hard drives would be needed and all of this space in the array is not needed. So two more hard drives would be overkill, and I don't have enough SATA slots left. System description (if needed) Intel DX58SO MB Intel I7 920 @3.8 OCZ 6gb @1621 memory M-Audio Audiophile 2496 sound card Samsung 750gb X 3 hard drives (non-raid) WD 1tb X 2 hard drives (Raid 0 Array) LG DVD drive ATI HD4870 video card JB

Hi, If we directly restore the system from the backup image by using the restore from image function after start in Win RE with a startup disk, the new system would not work because the hard drive has been changed and the system will not be able to find the hard drive from Registry when startup. Such as when we use a standard IDE\ATA hard disk, if we change the transfer mode from Standard IDE to AHCI, the system will not be able to start. The system needs to be reinstalled. Therefore, the suggestion in my previous thread can help you to find out data from the image backup after you clean-install a new system after remove RAID.Arthur Xie - MSFT

Thank you Arthur, By making reference to IDE and ACHI it is fully understandable. It is only one month until my copy of Windows 7 should be here. I will just do a clean install then. BTW in XP Pro the ACHI driver could be manually added and a manual change in the registry and it would load with either setting in the bios. Made the change because two drives and one earlier OS set for ACHI (no updated driver available for a scanner). Sometimes I would forget to change the BIOS setting. So it would run even if my bios reverted back to default due to memory or video card change caused an error. Thanks Again JB