New user need help going to new h/w with tricky setup

[psolk]

First off hello everyone thanks for any assistance in advance.
I just purchased True Image Workstation 9.1 and Universal restore to backup my current system for transfer to new h/w.

I have one system that is on the way out which is a Dual Boot with two separate copies of Windows XP. It is configured in a Raid-0 configuration right now on an Asus A8N-SLI Premium with an FX-57.

I want to be able to copy all of my Partitions on the Raid Array and restore them on the new Mobo, Processor and memory.
C: Primary XP OS for FlightSim 100 Gigs (40 used)
D: Swap File for C: 10 gigs
E: Secondary XP OS for everything else (50 used)
F: Swap for E:

So how do I go about this?
I know I have to create my bootable media: Done
I have an external drive (300 gigs) available to hold the image.
I am doing a Full Backup Archive right now, is that correct?
What is my next step providing I am correct so far?

What do I do when I get the new H/W and build it out? Do I format the partitions first, delete them entirely or just keep the exact same partition structure? Will the Universal Restore recognize the Raid drivers? How do I complete the Universal Restore?

Please help, I am a bit overwhelmed but I will be soooo excited if this works. I am going to a C2D E6600 with dual 8800 GTX and would love to not have to reinstall everything
Thanks in advance,
-Paul

[psolk]

Hi everyone.
So I ran my full backup. All 74 gigs of Full backup is now sitting on a USB removable drive. I am expecting the new h/w this morning. Can someone please confirm all I do is build the new h/w, boot from my bootable media and then do a Universal restore? Will this rebuild my Array on the new h/w? Do I build the array first? Just a bit confused as to the logistics of getting this done.
Thanks so much,
-Paul

[psolk]

Is there no one who can help me out with this? My new h/w is arriving this morning and I am not sure if I build my array and partition prior to doing a Universal restore... Does my Array Have to have the exact same partition structure?
Please help,
-Paul

[MudCrab]

I'm have not used TIW9.1 or Universal Restore so I'm just offering my opinion. I think that you would need to setup the RAID in BIOS before doing the restore (TI will create the partitions during restore). Otherwise the restore will be done to a single drive. You may have problems with booting as the old RAID drivers will be in the restored image. Perhaps universal restore will allow you to add the new RAID drivers? Also, if Windows XP includes the RAID drivers for your new board, it may detect them and install them automatically.

If it doesn't work you could try a repair install of XP and add the drivers. Or you could try restoring to a single (non-RAID) drive, boot into XP, install the RAID drivers for the new board, create another image. Change back to RAID in BIOS, restore the new image with the correct RAID drivers to the RAID array.

In either case, I think you would have to "fix" both of the XP boots.

If you restore the entire drive image by checking "disk 1" then the partition structure will be be the same as before. If you need to change the size of any of the partitions, you'll need to do the partitions one at a time in the restore wizard until you have gone through all of them. It should ask if you want to restore another partition. Say yes and it will let you check another one. Keep doing that until you have them all selected.

[psolk]

Thanks so much for the options, at least it gives me something to think about. It is soooo useful to have the second system sitting next to the work in progress so you can be on-line as you work
Thanks again, I REALLY appreciate it,
-Paul

[psolk]

Ok, another question, I made my backup in two different locations, one an external USB drive that when connected directly to the PC being restored show 12 hours to restore. I also made a copy on a 3rd SATA drive that is not part of my Raid Array but the recovery console does not see that drive. I transferred the USB drive to another system on the network shared it and connected that way and I went from 12 hours to 7 but if I could see that SATA drive it would be less than an hour I would think...
This is an Asus P5N32-SLI Plus motherboard. Funny thing is if I go to add a new drive it shows the drive my image is on but the recovery center doesn't.
Any suggestions? I read all the threads on missing HD's but none of them showed me how to fix it. Tried the acpi-off apic switch as well, my USB mouse and keyboard locked up though... I guess I could switch them to PS/2 converters and see if that helps but anyone else have any advice on how to see that SATA drive to recover from?
Thanks,
-Paul

[MudCrab]

The linux rescue cd has problems with some of the newer boards. If you haven't tried the "safe" mode of TI, try it. It may work just fine for you and since your image is on an internal drive it won't matter if you can't see the usb external one.

You may also want to consider creating a BartPE boot cd. This will use the windows drivers and is usually a lot faster than the Acronis rescue cd. I created one that has my RAID, network and cd/dvd drivers on it. It works very well. As a fall back I can use the TI rescue cd in safe mode.