Disabling, Splitting, Uninstalling RAID1?

[BillOliver]

I have:
a) 2 x WD Enterprise Series 250Gb SATA drives
b) Vista Home Premium 64 bit.
c) Intel Matrix Storage Console 6.2.1.1002
They are successfully configured as 1 x HDD under RAID 1 (mirroring)

I want TO "un-RAID" (what's the term please? disable? split? uninstall?)
so that I have 2 x 250Gb separate hard drives.
(I want to try scheduled backups for a while and see how that goes.)

I have tried these solutions:
a) I have looked at the software and can't find a way to disable/split/uninstall.
DELETING IS UNACCEPTABLE as that wipes all data.
I need to keep OS/programs/data as is.

b) I have gone into BIOS F2.
Under System Setup I have tried all three RAID/IDE/AHCI. ONLY RAID works.
With IDE and AHCI setting it goes to blue screen for a split second and goes back to reboot.

c) I have physically disconnected one drive.
The software tells me it's STILL got RAID 1 with 2 x HDD but with "missing hard drive"

SOLUTIONS PLEASE? (Remember I need to keep OS/programs/data intact)

 

[Dwarf]

Hi Bill,

Welcome to the forums,
Unfortunately, I don't think that there is any way to do what you want to do without reinstalling. When you initially installed, you selected the suitable driver for your storage system, in your case a RAID driver (you might even have needed to provide it on alternate media). This driver is one of the first ones to be loaded into RAM after the BIOS has finished its POST. The reason why you cannot change the settings as you have tried is because of the difference in the way in which the driver works and accesses the data on the disk. In other words, this is a setting which you need to choose when installing Vista and if you want to change it for any reason you will need to reinstall as each option requires slightly different drivers. The disks may even be controlled by different chips on the motherboard, depending upon the model and option you choose. For example, the standard non-RAID might be controlled by the South Bridge whereas for RAID the motherboard may have a separate chip. In this case, different drivers will be needed for each scenario.
Dwarf

 

[BillOliver]

Oh boy! Thanks Dwarf. That's NOT what I wanted to hear!
You wrote: "The disks may even be controlled by different chips on the motherboard, depending upon the model and option you choose."

I've included everything here in case the number of slots/ports used makes a difference to whether I can "un-RAID" or not.

MOTHERBOARD: Intel DG965OTMKR 1066FSB
PROCESSOR: Intel Core2Duo E6600 2.4GHz 4Mb L2
MEMORY: 4 x 1 Gb Kingston 667 Mhz
GRAPHICS: GeForce 8500GT NX85T series
CAPTURE: Leadtek Winfast TV2000XP
MONITORS: 2 x Samsung 226BW 22" 2ms
HDDs: 2 x RE Series WD2500YS 7200 rpm, 160GB SATA II, 16MB Buffer
DVD: 2 x Sony DVD +/-RW
SPEAKERS: Altec Lansing 80W 5.1 channel, GT5051

Any advance on "gotta re-install Vista 64!" (what's the emoticon for "G-R-O-A-N!")

 

[Dwarf]

Hi Bill,

Since your system is running as it should, I would leave it alone. However, if you do want to try the scheduled backups then why don't you try using an external hard drive connected to a spare USB port?
Dwarf

 

[BillOliver]

Why don't I? More money!
I didn't think that splitting was going to be impossible!
Looks like USB HDD it is!

 

[djoy2k]

If you have the ability to create a full backup (disk image), you can remove the raid volume, change bios back to IDE, and do a system restore from the backup (you will need a recovery disk). This will restore back to 1 drive, and give you C and D.

This is the same way I went to raid 0.