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I have always had a hardware RAID 5, but recently lost tons of data due to a drive loss, even after recovery steps.

I am trying to set up a RAID 1 on 3 drives, and I do not see the option "Add Mirror" which I saw on many How-tos.

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EDIT Here is when attempting to click on a simple volume and no volume.

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EDIT 2 Fun fact, I booted off my Windows 7 and attempted the same thing ... THERE IT IS!

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EDIT 2016: Windows 10 Home Edition does not have support for most Raid setups. It's recommended to use Storage Spaces but if you get Windows 10 Pro or higher it will have the Raid support I wanted.

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  • 1
    You need to delete the volumes before you can access that option.
    – Michael Frank
    Nov 16, 2015 at 0:37
  • @michael-frank Edited with your suggestions
    – c3cris
    Nov 16, 2015 at 0:55
  • Have you installed the most recent storage drivers for Win 10 for your controller? What drivers are installed on the Win 7 install that are not on the Win 10 install? Is the Win7 install tested on the same machine or a different machine?
    – Bilfred
    Nov 23, 2015 at 6:23
  • 4
    RAID exists to minimize downtime due to hardware failures, not to protect against data loss.
    – David Schwartz
    Nov 23, 2015 at 13:02
  • Why not to invest in a real RAID solution like QNAP or Synology? I know this is not answering the question but these devices are quite more simpler to manage.
    – рüффп
    Nov 25, 2015 at 23:12

2 Answers 2

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It is not surprising that Microsoft has lowered support for software RAID, as since Windows 8 it has incorporated a more advanced RAID technology that is called Storage Spaces. Microsoft always phases-out older technology in favor of newer one. If you really want the classic RAID, you'll need the Pro or Enterprise editions of Windows 10.

Storage Spaces are volumes rendered upon spanned pools utilizing multiple drives, in effect the same as RAID, just much easier to set up.

Here are a couple of references from the thousands that you can find on the Web:

If you are multi-booting Windows 10 and Windows 7, beware - Windows 7 will not understand Storage Spaces.

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    For what it's worth, Microsoft hasn't changed anything from Windows 7 -- the disk mirror option only exists on Windows 7 Pro, not Windows 7 Home, just as with Windows 10.
    – Brooks Moses
    Sep 7, 2018 at 5:20
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Ability to add a mirror may only exist on Windows 10 Pro and Higher versions. I noticed you were using Home in all versions shown.

Looking for that option in Windows 10 Pro, I was able to select the "New Mirrored Volume" option.

There seems to be multiple other users noting this behavior on Microsoft's forums. https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/becca8a4-14c1-4341-9bb7-4730079819a3/i-dont-have-add-mirror-option-in-disk-management-in-windows-10?forum=w8itprogeneral

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    I disagree. His was based on a presentation of a new feature meant to replace this functionality, where mine was outlining the specific deprecation of the questioned feature. Microsoft has and still does maintain many redundant features.
    – Shirow
    Jan 17, 2016 at 3:44

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