RAID recovery

Summary

• the controller failed and the array parameters are lost
• Windows software-based RAID configuration data is damaged

Note: The older than current versions of ZAR might have been used to create the screenshots in this tutorial. We did not update the screenshots if there is no significant difference between older and current versions. If you see some option in the program which is not described in the tutorial, just leave it at its default setting.

Hardware considerations

• If the array crashed due to the hardware problem, make sure the problem is corrected before attempting recovery.
• If the source of the problem is uncertain, make sure at least the system memory (RAM) is checked.

Step 2 - Select processing mode

2. Select "Reconstruct RAID layout, then recover data"
3. Click "Next  >>"

Step 3 - Select array members and types

4. Select all the drives that were members of the array
   • If you recover RAID5 with one of its member disks missing, select all the available drives. Missing data will be reconstructed automatically.
   • The order of disks is reconstructed automatically, you cannot specify it here.
5. Select the RAID type.
   • If you do not know the type of the array, select everything.
   • For a Windows software RAID5, select "RAID5 (MS/LDM)".
   • For a hardware RAID5, select both "MS/LDM" and "Checkerboard" variations.
   • Avoid selecting RAID5 if you know the array to be RAID0.
6. Click "Next >>" to start the array analysis

Step 4 - RAID layout reconstruction

This part is fully automatic.

Step 5 - Select the volume to recover

7. Select a volume on the array you need to recover.
8. Click "Next >>"

Step 6 - Filesystem reconstruction

This part is fully automatic.

Step 7 - Mark files to copy

9. Mark folders to recover by clicking their corresponding checkboxes.
10. Click "Next >>"

Step 8 - Copy the files

11. Enter the name of the folder for the recovered files.
12. Click "Start copying the selected files" to start file retrieval.