Software RAID-5 issue

[Kayt]

Hi guys,

I have 4 HDD (250GB each) set in RAID-5 configuration (using Windows software RAID-5).
One day, my computer auto re-sync RAID-5 upon boot-up and then the status is flagged "Failed" with one disk is flagged: "Online (Errors)".
I can't repair the volume but it is always grayed out (in Disk Management).

I tried to use RAID Reconstruction but everytime I analyzed the RAID, it always said that the result is not significant.

Does anyone know what is Windows Software RAID configuration for RAID Reconstruction?
What is Parity rotations to probe? Forward (1-2-3), Backward(3-2-1) or Backward(Dynamic Disk)?
What is Entropy and what is "OS:4" remark under each Entropy result?

If RAID Reconstructor can't do the job, what is the recommended software to recover my RAID-5?

Thanks for any help.

[HDD Spaz]

scan all rotations and scan deeper. about 10 millions sectors should be enough. scan blocks sizes 64 KB up to 256 KB.

[hddguy]

I believe your raid does not start at sector 0, so RR can not identify configuration,

[dmarques]

I really think you should take your RAID to a DR company if you data is valuable.

[Kayt]

Hi all,
thanks all for your reply.

I just found out that I need another spare hard disk and re-activate my volume then Repair RAID-5 volume option will appear.
All the data is still intact.

[shaun]

And if it would not, I would recommend to image the RAID to a new single drive and build it newly from scratch.
A DR company may be a bit costly for 100% accessible data...
When the data is safe, I would start to think whether M$ soft raid offers the reliability you need...