Setup Windows 2000 with Raid

[BrennanSchnell]

Hello I have a Raid controller installed and I have 250 gb availble to setup windows 2000 server. I formatted the sata drives already with the software provided with the controller. Now the problem is when I pop in the Windows 2000 Server cd and start to Format it that way as well it goes for a couple hours to 55% then it takes about 3 days to do the rest then says it cannot be completed. I do not want to setup a partition either. The other way I tried is to specify the full size of the hard drive but it will not let me do that either it only allows me to put in 5 numbers instead of 6. Does anyone have a solution for my problem?

 

[itsp1965]

When you say formatting I am assuming you setup the RAID array level and not actually formatted the drives with NTFS or FAT32 for instance. When you run the Windows installation did you load the driver for the RAID controller (by pressing F6). It sounds like Windows is using one of its standard drivers and it is not presenting the disk information correctly.

 

[BrennanSchnell]

Well I formatted it with the raid software that was provided...then when I put in the windows 2000 server cd to install from there it asked me to reformat it again but not a fast version ....

 

[kmcferrin]

It would be very odd to use RAID management software to format a disk. Typically it will only let you set up the RAID level, select which disks are members, etc. While this usually destroys any existing data on the disks, it is not the same as a format.

If you are using Windows 2000 with a modern RAID controller (and I assume that you are, considering that you mentioned SATA disks) then you will need to use F6 at the "load additional drivers" prompt to load the drivers for the RAID controller. Otherwise Windows will not see the disks correctly.

 

[BrennanSchnell]

Windows sees all 250 GB no problem but it wont let me get higher then 99 GB when i try and specify the amount i want to use for the partition or if i try to use the whole thing to setup it goes to 55% in a couple hours then 3 days to do the rest and wont work after that.

 

[kmcferrin]

Windows sees all 250 GB no problem

Obviously it doesn't, or else you wouldn't be having problems. Use F6 to load additional drivers and load the drivers for your RAID controller.

BTW, what kind of RAID controller are you using?

 

[w33mhz]

What kind of win2k installation CD are you using. If not a SP4 CD, you may need to create a new one and slip stream SP4 into it. I had a similar issue installing WinXP, with a 350GB drive. I had to either install with original installation disk or use one with SP2 slipstreamed in. You do need to what itsp1965 stated

When you run the Windows installation did you load the driver for the RAID controller (by pressing F6).

 

[BrennanSchnell]

thanks for all your help. It was a faulty Adaptec driver