Windows – How to install Windows 7 onto software RAID-0

software-raidwindows 7

I recently got a new laptop (Asus G73JH-A2) which has two identical hard drives in it. Unfortunately the motherboard does not have a RAID controller. What I would like to do is run the drives in a RAID-0 configuration to improve performance (plus get the extra capacity on one partition). I would like Windows installed onto the striped volume (RAID 0).

I have spent some time using diskpart to create a striped volume across the two drives, however when I go to install windows and select the volume it will not let me select 'Next' giving the error "Windows cannot be installed to this hard disk space. The partition contains one or more dynamic volumes that are not supported for installation." I'm hoping theres a step that I am missing that will allow me to install windows on a striped volume. Any ideas?

Best Answer

After many hours, I am concluding that it is not possible. It seems that RAID-1 is possible, or at least the 'Mirror' feature of Disk Management, which can be applied after install, but RAID-0 striping is not possible on the OS disk.