Hey guys, I really need your help with this one.

Up until a few days ago I was running a RAID 0 setup with two 1,5 TB Samsung HD154UI drives, and it was working fine. As it turns out though, I was running out of space, so I was considering converting the array to a RAID 5 setup with two extra drives of the same model, so I'd get an extra disk worth of storage space but also be protected in case of disk failure due to the nature of RAID 5.

I originally used AMD RAIDXpert to set up the RAID 0 array through the chipset controller of my ASUS M4A88TD-V EVO and it was working fine for months. A couple days ago, I installed two new units of these Samsung Drives and started the migration routine to convert the array to RAID 5.

This process took a few days and just ended an hour ago, and after rebooting the computer I found Windows no longer recognizes the partition. Looking in the Disk Management panel of the Computer Management applet in Windows 7, it says the Disk is not Initialized. It won't let me initialize it either, saying the media is write protected.

So now I'm at loss. I want to believe my files are still intact though split across multiple drives. I have backups for some of them but not all, as I didn't have enough spare drive space to make 1:1 copy of everything. My guess is the problem is the MBR/MFT got split across multiple disks as well and now Windows is clueless as to what to make out of the drives.

I really need your help folks, I have no idea what to do to get my NTFS partition running again and my files back. I have considered trying some tool to recover lost partitions, but I'm not sure that would work in a RAID setup...

If you can please advise me in any way possible it would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

P.S. Forgot to mention, the array is used only for files. The operating system is setup in a single WD Caviar Black 640 GB, so naturally I can still boot without issues.

I have worked with RaidSets for many years and never have seen the ability to change a RAID0 set to a RAID5 set on the fly. Normally you have to create a new partition as a RAID5 Volume which wipes any data on the drives. Most software have warnings as well. I looked up the AMD_RaidXpert V 2.1 and don't see the option you speak of either. My guess is you wiped the data off the raid0 set and recovery would be very difficult. Not all SATA drives work properly in a RAID5 setup either.

It's the Migration tab on the Logical Drive View menu to the left, and according to the manual it should be capable to convert the array on the fly and expand it on the background. What I find most strange is I could still access all the data up until 99% as the process was being performed in the background so I can't believe the data would just be destroyed, most likely in there just inaccessible. I ran a Parity Check earlier this morning and found quite a few bad sectors in one the supposedly brand new drives so perhaps it was my own doing after all and tough call for getting a factory damaged drive and not thoroughly testing it beforehand. Oh well, worst case scenario, 3 TB worth of data gone. I guess I will recover in due time. Thanks for the help...

I think that chances are that the data is recoverable.
I recommend you to try R-Studio for free in its demo mode. You may install it and perform all recovery operations, including file preview except you won't be able to save files larger than 64KB.
I'd use the RAID setup as it is now, without disassembling it and creating a new virtual RAID.
First I'd scan a small area (app. 2-3 TB) at the disk beginning to try to find the MFT and other partition's metadata. If it's done successfully, you'll see a recognized partition with your files. Then they can be previewed to estimate how correctly they can be recovered.
If not, I'd continue scanning the whole disk to try to find the files using raw file search (or scan for known file types), although that would take a lot of time. Then again try to preview files.
If the data seems to be recoverable, I'd buy R-Studio, register it, and recover the files.
And don't forget to save scan information to avoid repeating such a lengthy procedure.
Good luck in data recovery!

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R-Studio Data Recovery Software

i would really recommend to consult Dr.Kiev

in another word: he is the RAID Master here

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Kuwait Data Recovery - UNIX GTC
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