Computer Question - Mirrored volumes

[kronic24601]

Perhaps not the best place to post this ... but what the heck ...

In my most current MAME computer I wanted to have data-backup, so I have 1 drive with 1 formatted letter, and 1 drive that mirrors it. However, the problem I am having is, since I mirrored the boot drive, each time I boot it asks me which drive I want to boot from. It's highly annoying.

Obviously one solution is to not mirror the boot drive, but I really didn't want to have to screw with reinstalling everything.

Does anyone mirror their drives? If so, is there a bios way of selecting just one? (I didn't find it). Or some other way to bypass it?

Thanks!

[Malenko]

cant you go into the BIOS and take the mirror drive out of the boot up order?

[dawolv]

Is this Windows or Linux?
Do you mean RAID 1 Mirroring Or a HDD Copy tool?

Is this a manufactured PC (ie Dell, HP)..if so some 'advanced' options require another way to access the BIOS advanced options like Ctrl+A for HP, etc.

[Blanka]

cant you go into the BIOS and take the mirror drive out of the boot up order?

Yes, BIOS should definitely be able to fix this. It's not a mac!

[kronic24601]

sorry ... I guess I wasn't clear was I. It's a PC, I am not raiding the drive. I setup a mirrored volume in Windows 7. So it's a "software raid" I suppose. I guess I havne't played with the boot sequence enough, but when I was looking at it there didn't seem to be an option to specify HDD, but NOT this specific HDD. It was pretty much (boot from CD? USB? or HDD?).

[dawolv]

OK, I dont know if this will work but here is a way to do this in Win 7:
http://windows7themes.net/change-boot-order-in-windows-7.html

If that does not work, which it may not in your case.
Then go into your BIOS and look for a boot device order.
Something like:
First Boot Device  <CD-ROM>
Second Boot Device <HD0> (Could say like Maxtor TWIRH27489, etc)
Third Boot Device <HD1>
etc
etc
You may have to press enter to select the <device> then use the arrow keys to change.

What PC is this and BIOS are you using?

[kronic24601]

thanks, I'll give that a try when I get home.

the PC is a self build

Windows 7 x64
GIGABYTE GA-H55M-UD2H
Intel Core i5-661 (overclocked to 4.5GHz)
BIOS: Version F8 (http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/BIOS_Model.aspx?ProductID=3309)

(Overkill? ... not if you want to play Gauntlet Legends) ...

[dawolv]

Wow yeah...I am just using an Gigabyte (M-57SLI S4) board and old AM2 x2 4000+ Brisbane (2.1 Ghz Energy Efficient 65watt) cpu and an old version of Windows XP Pro.
But I have not played Gauntlet Legends. Handles everything else (WoW, City of Heroes, AA, etc)

So yeah the Delete button will get you into the BIOS with full access no problem there.
Let me know if you cant find it, I will boot up my XP Gigabyte Rig and find it. 

[DeLuSioNal29]

I bypass the OS altogether when mirroring my drive.  First I set up the boot drive exactly like I want it.  Then I install the mirror drive and boot into the partitioning software CD-Rom that comes with the drive (Max Blast or any other utility software for the manufacturer).  Then I make a clone of the partition on the new drive.

When I'm all done, I leave both hard drives in the arcade machine/computer but I only have one plugged in.  That way if it decides to take a dump, I simply swap cables and it's back to normal.  This has come in handy for me in the past, especially on Superbowl Sunday when it decided to crap out. (Murphy's law).  All I did was swap it and voila, it's like the crash never happened.  The next day, I simply cloned it the other way around to fix the hard drive corruption.

D

[kronic24601]

@ DeLuSioNal29

So in your solution, you only clone your HDD periodically. hmm ... that might work. I wonder what happens when you just unplug a windows mirrored volume ... I don't think Windows likes that very much.

[dawolv]

Yeah I use Acronis True Image and make weekly images of our PCs. My PC can get back to where it was on Friday in about 3 minutes.
You can make a boot disk with the program on it then even if my HDD dies, I can get any size HDD and re-image that drive and viola! . All programs, files etc back online.

I keep the weekly images on a slave/storage drive (I have too many HDDs) and I keep the Weekly and Monthly images backed up to my Server.(Yep you can do Network re-images it just takes a little longer)

I figure once I get my cab to where I want it, I will only have to make Monthly images for it.

On my Windows 7 Machines, I use the Windows 7 System Image Restore Points and have that image backed up to a slave drive. Works well though its a bit large (15gigs) but its free 

[kronic24601]

@ dawolv

Ok, choosing a boot device order didn't fix it. However the guide you sent came close (got me in the right direction) so thanks for that.

FYI for anyone else with this issue, you have to go to Startup & Recovery, choose your default op (mine was pre-selected) then, UN-check the "Time to display list of operating systems". It still flashes for a moment the option, but then it disappears.

this is perhaps not the most ideal (with the flash) but I think it's the best I can come up with without disabling the mirror.

Thanks for everyone's help!