Intel RAID Software Windows 10: How to Fix Common Problems (Troubleshooting Tips and Tricks)

Today, I messed around with Intel RAID on my Windows 10 machine. Let me tell you, it wasn’t a walk in the park, but I got it working. Here’s how it went down.

First off, I made sure my motherboard could even do RAID. Most modern ones can, but it’s always good to double-check the manual or the manufacturer’s website. Once I confirmed that, I gathered all the hard drives I wanted to use for the RAID setup. For this little experiment, I just used two.

Next, I shut down my computer and physically installed the hard drives. Connected them to the SATA ports on the motherboard. Made sure the power cables were connected too, of course.

Then came the fun part – getting into the BIOS. I restarted my computer and kept spamming the “Delete” key (it might be F2 or something else for you, depending on your motherboard) to enter the BIOS settings. Once I was in, I navigated through the menus, usually it’s under “Advanced” or “Storage Configuration”. I found the SATA mode option and switched it from whatever it was (probably AHCI) to “RAID”. Saved the changes and exited the BIOS.

Creating the RAID Array

After the reboot, I needed to get into the Intel RAID Option ROM utility. There was a prompt on the screen during startup that told me which keys to press. Usually, it’s something like Ctrl+I. Once I got in, it was a pretty straightforward menu.

• I selected the option to “Create RAID Volume”.
• Gave my RAID array a name, I just called it “MyRAID”.
• Chose the RAID level I wanted. I went with RAID 1, which is mirroring. It basically duplicates your data across two drives, so if one fails, you still have your stuff.
• Then I selected the disks I wanted to include in the array.
• You can also choose the stripe size, but I left it at the default settings for now.
• Finally, I confirmed everything and created the volume.

The system then started initializing the array, which took a little while.

Installing Windows

After the array was ready, I booted from my Windows 10 installation USB. During the installation, Windows might not see the RAID array at first. This is normal. You’ll probably need to load the Intel RAID drivers.

I had already downloaded the latest drivers from Intel’s website and put them on a separate USB. During the Windows installation, there’s an option to “Load driver”. I clicked on that, browsed to my USB with the drivers, and installed them. After that, Windows recognized the RAID array, and I could proceed with the installation as usual.

After Installation

Once Windows was up and running, I installed the Intel Rapid Storage Technology (RST) software. This gives you a nice interface to monitor and manage your RAID array. It’ll show you the status of your drives, let you know if there are any problems, and even send you email alerts.

It was a bit of a process, but I finally got my Intel RAID setup working on Windows 10. It feels good to have that extra layer of data protection with RAID 1. If you’re thinking about doing this, just make sure you back up your data first, and be prepared to spend some time tinkering in the BIOS and with drivers.

I remember one time, I messed up the RAID configuration and Windows wouldn’t boot at all. Had to start all over. So yeah, double-check everything and maybe watch some tutorials online before you dive in. Oh, and one more thing. I almost forgot. One time, the Intel Rapid Storage Technology software reported that the status of my RAID is incorrect, and it took me a whole day to fix it.

Hope my little adventure helps someone out there. Good luck with your RAID adventures!