Fault-Tolerant RAID Volumes or Volume Sets Are Displayed as "Failed" After You Install Windows XP (303246)

SYMPTOMS

After you upgrade to Windows XP from Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Workstation or Windows 2000 Professional by using legacy software fault tolerance, previous striped volumes or volume sets may be listed in the Disk Management tool as "Failed". These "Failed" disks have drive letters, but you cannot access them.

CAUSE

This behavior occurs because you upgraded the computer to Windows XP and did not convert to Dynamic Disk in Windows 2000 or remove the legacy fault tolerant RAID or volume set configuration that was created in Windows NT 4.0. Windows XP does not support this configuration after an upgrade procedure.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, use the Ftonline tool (Ftonline.exe) at a command prompt from the Windows XP Support tools so that you can recover data on these disks. For information about how to do this, see the "More Information" section in this article.

The Ftonline tool is designed to provide a temporary way to back up data on Striped Volumes, and Volume Sets in an emergency situation. Ftonline is not designed to provide persistent legacy fault-tolerance support in Windows XP.

MORE INFORMATION

To use Ftonline, install the Windows Support tools that are located in the Support\Tools folder on the Windows installation media.

You have to extract the Ftonline tool from the Support.cab file. After you install the tools, type ftonline drive_letter (where drive_letter is the drive letter of the fault-tolerant RAID volume or volume set that you want to mount) at a command prompt, and then press ENTER.

If the mount of the volume works, you receive an "online succeeded" message, you have access to this volume for the remainder of your session, and you can back up data that is located on the volumes.

To restore your information, delete the volumes and then re-create them as dynamic volumes.

Note that Ftonline does not support breaking of mirrors, creating RAID sets, or other actions that are typically associated with volume sets or fault-tolerant RAID volumes.