Recover information on messed up RAID configuration.

[ACaia]

Hello.

I have a HP Elitebook 850 G2 laptop. The original storage configuration had 2 disks: 1 x HDD SATA 1 TB and 1 x M.2 32 GB (for caching purposes). These disks were configured with Intel Rapid Storage Technology (in RAID 0 I guess).

I decided to replace the M.2 32 GB drive with another one of higher capacity and so I did. Note that I did not change any configuration on the Intel Rapid Technology application before I switch the drives. So after replacing the M.2 drive with the new one and started the computer, windows did not start and instead, I was presented with the Intel Rapid Technology application. I don’t remember what message I received but I think It was something about the missing original drive. I was prompted with some options (which I don’t remember) and so I choose some of those options (which I also don’t remember).

Note that I never took the HDD SATA 1 TB from the laptop.

As I did not succeed on installing the new M.2 SSD on the laptop because it was not recognized in the BIOS, I decided to return to the original configuration so I replaced the new M.2 drive with the original M.2 32 GB drive. When I started the computer, I was presented with the Intel Rapid Technology application “saying” that there was some kind of problem with one of the drives. I did not select any options because I did not want to mess up even more than it already was.

I think that the only options available, on the Intel Rapid Technology application, are “Delete RAID volume” and “Exit”.

I don’t really care on having the original configuration back, I just want to access and “save” the information stored on the HDD SATA 1 TB. I already tried to connect this drive to another computer using an external case but the disk is presented as having non-allocated space.

I want to know if it is still possible to recover the data stored in the HDD SATA 1 TB either by restoring the original configuration or using another approach.

I handed the original drives to a computer store (not specialized on recovering data) but so far they have not been succeeded.

I’m thinking of getting the drives back and try to recover the data myself but I need some help. Could you please advise?

Thank you very much!

[Leonardo_C_Intel]

Hello ACaia

Thank you for posting in the Intel Community.

After reviewing more details about your Laptop model HP Elitebook 850 G2 (https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c04540283) I am noticing that it comes with Optional 32 GB M.2 flash cache module support for Intel Smart Response Technology, before making any changes on the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) set up we recommend confirming the necessary steps to disable the cache configuration and completing the hardware changes, also is it important confirming with the OEM the compatible M.2 modules for your systems; now that you have made these changes seems that the operating system has been damaged and this could have caused data loss. I order to confirm what actions can be taken we recommend contacting HP for a possible workaround; another possible option is contacting a local data recovery center.

NOTE: Before making any hardware or big software changes we recommend making a back up of the data.

Regards,

Leonardo C.                                                                                                                                         

Intel Customer Support Technician

Under Contract to Intel Corporation