How do I break a failed software RAID1(mirror) in Windows 7 without wiping data on the mirror HDD?

Question

In Windows 7 I have created a software RAID1 array that has failed(failed redundancy) due to some weak sectors on one of the HDDs.

I want to be able to reactivate the mirror HDD as a separate partition. How do I do this? Normaly, I would have used Break Mirrored Volume option, but in my situation, this option is greyed. The other option that I have, is Remove Mirror, which from what I've read, it wipes the partition from the mirror HDD.

How should I proceed? I really want to be able to see the mirror HDD as a separate partition.

Answer 1

I had to:

• put offline the mirror disk
• remove the mirror (without putting the mirror disk offline, this option is disabled)
• put the disk online again and import it as foreign disk

This way guarantees that you won't lose the data from the mirror.

Answer 2

You did not say if an OS was on the array or if it was just storage.

Your data is there, you can remove one of the drives and connect it to another pc using a usb adapter, copy your files off. There may be a chance device manager does not mount the drive, then you would have to use the "import foreign disk" in device manager to get it mounted and a drive letter assigned.

If there is an OS on it, I would back up your data as explained earlier and then test both hard drives before putting them back into service and reinstall the OS.