I am trying to clean re-install my windows

[PJay]

I've heard and  know that it is safe to clean re-install the windows without touching anything of stablebit drivepool

(It should detect my pool and drives as soon as I re-install the stablebit drivepool on the new windows)

I know it but I haven't tried it myself yet, so I want to be certain that's the reason why I am writing this post here

my situation is like this

1.My Windows c:\ drive is not part of pool (Obviously !)

2.I will not attach a new drive or detach a new drive before and during the installation process

3.My actual system is running on windows 10, I am willing to clean-install windows 11

4.I've named my windows drive to "Windows 10 drive" so there is no way that I will make a mistake and wipe the wrong drive 

 

In this situation after clean reinstalling windows 11 and then installing drivepool again it will recognize the pool and my drives right ?

that's my first question and lastly should I remove the license of drivepool before wiping ? or is it safe to keep ?

 

[VapechiK]

hello

1.  make note of or take screenshots of your DrivePool settings if you have changed them from the default settings in any way.  if you take SSs step 2 is important.  DP saves your pool data in Alternate Data Streams on the drives themselves but doesn't save any customized balancer/file placement rules etc.  from Manage Pool ^ Balancing... under the pie chart in the GUI.  also take note of Manage Pool ^ Performance > settings as well.

2.  make sure all your user data (i.e. all docs, pics, DLs, etc.) from your C:\Users\[your user name]\ have been saved/backed up elsewhere.

3.  yes deactivate your license - cogwheel with downpointing arrow in upper right corner/Manage license/deactivate.  in fact you should do this for all licensed 3rd party software on your machine.  if you are reinstalling on the EXACT same hardware it *shouldn't* much matter but better safe than hassled later.

4.  power OFF machine, and unplug/detach ALL drives EXCEPT your win10 drive from the mobo and any USB ports.  IOWs ONLY the win10 boot drive where you want to clean install win11 is attached.

5.  install windoze 11 and update to latest version, all new windows update security patches, etc etc.

6.  DL and install the latest version of DP from https://stablebit.com/DrivePool/Download and reactivate the license.

7.  power OFF your machine and reconnect your DrivePool drives and power ON.

8.  in the DP GUI Manage Pool ^ Balancing... ensure all is reconfigured and set up as it was before the reinstall.  SAVE.  Manage Pool ^ Performance > as well.  if it were me, i would reboot here.

9.  it is important to remeasure the pool before using it normally.  Manage Pool > Remeasure... Remeasure.

*NOTE*  if you never messed with the settings and all was left at default before, steps 1 and 8 can probably be omitted/ignored.  my own pool is fairly customized, so i included them as part of the procedure I would follow.

cheers

[PJay]

Thank you for informing me

At first I thought it was easy but now with all steps you described I am in fear now

there are 2 things that makes me fear a lot

1. I need to remove the drives (Is it really needed ? I mean I am not doubting you but I won't believe I really need to do this because I am having lot of internal drives, I wouldn't be feel this bad if I had only external drives but I am having lot of internal drives T_T)

2.Yes I've touched some distribution rules but I thought it didn't matter much because

I thought after reinstalling drive pool it would recognize my previous setting (my custom distritubion rule)

or arrange the files in default setting (that's also fine to me even it's not the same setting as before, the custom rule I set when I was drive pool noob now I realize the custom rule was not needed)

IM AFRAID !!

+ This may be off topic but in this forum I saw a guy who lost the encrypt key which made him unable to recover his pool after windows reinstallation. I think I haven't touched the encrypt option but just to verify is there a way I can check if I have encrypt option enabled on my pool ? (I've seen some couple of times but I can't find it anymore ... so I can't check if my drive pool is encrypted or not)

(I may have seen that at stablebit cloudrive that I don't really use anymore but I want to be sure if it also exists on stablebit drivepool)

[VapechiK]

no need to fear...

as long as you have backups all is good.

DrivePool does not use encryption by default.  no 'encryption keys' exist so no worries there.  it is a non-issue.

CloudDrive provides encryption, but if you are not using it, there is no need to even consider it in this discussion.

refering to my initial reply:

step 1.  for your convenience.  nothing else.

step 2.  DUH!

step 3.  is an all-around good idea.  self-explanatory.

step 4.  this is the best practice.  mostly just to ensure no screw-ups.  no 'real need' to do so.  if you are confident you know which drive to re-install to... go for it.  if you manually format your C:\ drive (or when asked during installation process) make sure you choose GPT partition (should be selected by default).  

step 5.  self-explanatory.

step 6.  self-explanatory.

step 7.  self-explanatory.

step 8.  if you care, reset your settings the way you had them before the reinstall.  if you are good with the default settings, don't worry about it.  a REBOOT is a good idea here.

step 9.  anytime you reinstall/reset/change settings etc. in DrivePool, it is best practice to remeasure after you save changes.  if you go with the default settings, it will probably remeasure all by itself upon reboot.  if not...  Manage Pool ^ Remeasure > Remeasure.

very simple procedure actually.  nothing to fear  

Edited April 5 by VapechiK
clarity

[Shane]

18 hours ago, PJay said:

+ This may be off topic but in this forum I saw a guy who lost the encrypt key which made him unable to recover his pool after windows reinstallation. I think I haven't touched the encrypt option but just to verify is there a way I can check if I have encrypt option enabled on my pool ? (I've seen some couple of times but I can't find it anymore ... so I can't check if my drive pool is encrypted or not)

DrivePool does not use encryption (that's CloudDrive). However, in the event that you have used Windows Bitlocker to encrypt the physical drives on which your pool is stored then you will need to ensure you have those key(s) saved (which Bitlocker would have prompted you to do during the initial encryption process).

[PJay]

Thanks VapechiK

You gave me back the courage ! I am not sure if I will remove my drives during the re-installation process but I decided to re-install the OS

and also Thanks Shane

to double check and give me the fact that encryption option was in stablebit cloudrive (not drivepool) and I've never used bitlocker option so I think I am safe from that encryption key problem