RAID 1 Error #16 reported by Recovery program. "

[jpfhmk]

My problem is a crash when searching the Internet which caused Error #16, described by the Recovery program supplied by the suppliers.
"Error #16 reads building the Partition List on Disk 1" I assume Disk 1 refers to Disk 1 of the RAID 1 configuration.
Next step on the recovery program gave message, "Corruption on Win. Partition too extensive to restore"
Further steps allow opening of the RAID utility, but this is too advanced for me.
Computer information.
AMD AthlonT 64 X2 Dual-Core 4400+ with HT Tech
MS Win. Pro.
ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe PCI-Express Mindoard -ATX
2048 Memory DDR400-PC3200 (2x1024)
2x 250GB Serial ATA HDDs Configured in RAID 1
The computer is almost three years old and was top of the range at the time.
I know little about computers, just use them as a tool.
I have enough problems learning the programs to use. I was expecting it to be totally reliable and recoverable in the event of a crash.
I was led to believe that in the event of any failure the two HDDs were duplicates and recovery of data would not be difficult.
I now find the expensive warranty I bought does not cover this.
I have discovered the RAID Configuration Utility Configuration used was supplied by Silicon Images Inc. and on their web site is information on recovering DATA but I do not understand it or how to use it.
It maybe that the procedure is not too difficult. I am hoping someone willbe able to give me some guidance on how I can recover the data and use the two HDDs in a more conventional manner by having one to drive the computer and the other to keep a HDD image of all data and programs which could be used for recovery in the event of future disasters.
Thank you for reading. (this is my first visit to the Site, please excuse any errors of protocol)

[BipolarBill]

I can't give you specific details about how to salvage your data, but I can say that it appears that you need to replace Drive 1. You need to refer to the owner's manual for the RAID controller (if it's part of the motherboard, read the motherboard manual) to determine which drive is Drive 1. Some systems call them drives 1 and 2. Some systems call them drives 0 and 1. You MUST read the documentation.

Usually, you must go into the RAID configuration and "break the mirror". You then physically replace the drive. Lastly, you assign the new drive to the RAID 1 array and rebuild the mirror from the older drive. The rebuilding usually takes place automatically after you assign the drive to the array.

The more conventional way to recover from a disaster is to have two drives, use one for your data and the other for storing backup images. This is a much more effective backup plan because you can recover from virus or data corruption if you schedule regular backups. RAID 1 can only save you in the case of hardware failure. It cannot restore a working version of Windows in the case of an operating system problem.

This is the best drive imaging program available:

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