My 2 W11 Mirrored drives disappeared upon OS reinstall. Why?

Question

I had a mirrored drive set up on 2 unused 1TB HDDs on my W11 Pro OS.

Upon reinstalling the W11 Pro OS, they are no longer there in File Explorer, but they did show in diskmgmt.msc.

I have subsequently deleted both and created just simple volumes on each...

What happened, and what should have I done before reloading the OS to insure their survival?

Thanks

Answer 1

Always back up important data before such changes.

Consider using a hardware RAID controller for mission-critical mirroring, as it's independent of the OS.

Document your system configuration thoroughly.

Answer 2

Hello,

Base on my search, before reinstalling the OS or making any major changes to your system, there are a few steps you could take to ensure the survival of the mirrored volumes:

Backup the data: Before performing any major changes to your system, it’s always a good practice to back up your important data. This ensures that even if something goes wrong, you won’t lose your valuable files.

Record disk configuration: If you have a mirrored volume or any other complex disk configuration, it’s a good idea to document the disk configuration, including volume sizes, drive letters, and RAID/mirroring settings. This documentation can help you recreate the configuration if needed.

Disconnect drives during OS reinstallation: If you’re reinstalling the operating system, consider disconnecting the drives that are not directly involved in the OS installation. This can prevent accidental modifications to the drives holding important data.

Backup RAID/mirroring configuration: If you’re using a hardware RAID controller for mirroring, make sure to back up the RAID configuration or settings before reinstalling the OS. This can be helpful in restoring the mirrored configuration after the OS is reinstalled.

In your case, since the mirrored volumes were still visible in Disk Management after reinstalling the OS, it might have been possible to re-establish the mirrored configuration without deleting the volumes. However, since you have already deleted and created new volumes, the original mirrored configuration may not be recoverable.

Best Regards,

Hania Lian

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