Need a final check before installing

[DrSteve]

Hello all.
I've been reading through the forum for a while now trying to figure this out and haven't quite got my head round it yet. Hopefully somebody can help me out.
I currently have windows 7 on a 2x74gig raptor raid 0 array.
I have just ordered 2 64gig crucial SSDs (admittedly probably not worth it over a single SSD but too late for that) and I'm planning to go for the same setup with the ssds.
Now here's what I'm not sure about...
Do I need to manually align the partitions if I'm installing win7 on raid 0? If so do I align the disks then build the array or build the array then align before installing? Does win7 do the alignment for me?

Can I copy over my existing install or would it be better doing a fresh install so that win7 sets itself up for SSD?

Thanks for any help.

 

[davem1979]

Since Windows 7 comes with the Sata Raid drivers, you should just be able to install the two SSD's on the Intel SATA port 0 and port 1, put the Bios in RAID mode, create the RAID (ctrl+I), then load Windows 7...

After Windows 7 is installed, you should be able to download Intel Chipset Software utility and install, and then download and install the current Intel Matrix Storage Manager. You should be good to go...

As for alignment of partitions, I'm pretty sure Windows 7 does it all for you when you do a fresh install. I've only read about alignment issues with people imaging over their previous Windows 7 installations with Acronis or other programs that may or may not do the alignment for you.

here are some links that might help:
http://forum.acronis.com/forum/5178
http://forum.acronis.com/forum/7027
http://yourbeholder.blogspot.com/2009/12/windows-7-how-to-create-aligned.html

Best,
David