Unit Chnage out

Your old unit would have been an NV+ V1 and silver in color. If your newly purchased unit is not also silver, it is not an NV+ and the answer is an emphatic NO. If it is silver, then I would install a scratch drive (spare drive with no data) and boot the system and let it go through the default setup (takes a little longer than 15 minutes if there is no problem). At this point you can verify the version of RAIDiator on the system either from the home page of Frontview or by using RAIDar. Verify that the version is close to the one you had previously. Considering some of the problems being encountered at this point with 4.1.9, I would not go higher than 4.1.8. (If the current version is not 4.1.8, this will have to be done by downloading 4.1.8 here. After clicking on the link, scroll down to 4.1.8 and download it to your PC. Then in Frontview, click on system and then update and then click on the local tab and point the system to the downloaded file. (I usually download them to the desktop).

If your new NV+ is black, you have the ARM based unit which is uses a totally different formatting technique and will wipe the disks and all the data when started. If that is the case, post back.

Unit is silver so I am good. The bad news is i had 2 disks in the old unit and in trouble shooting I removed them and do not know their designations. I do have a pld spare drive. If I boot up with that can I insert drives in the wrong slots an be OK?

If the scratch drive I have has data on it that I do not care about is that a problem?

No, you may have to do a factory default. As a reminder, here is the procedure for an NV+ v1/Duo v1.

Factory Default
To perform an OS Re-install or Factory Default, this is managed via the Reset button on the back of the chassis.

Locate the reset pinhole.
ReadyNAS Duo/NV/NV+: the pinhole is next to the USB port in the back.
Get a straightened paper clip and depress the hidden switch in the pinhole while the power is off, and then power on the ReadyNAS.
After 5 seconds you will get the first flash of the LED's for the OS Re-install
At 30 seconds you will get the second flash of the LED's for the Factory Default.

As to the two drives from the array, it should not be a problem. If you have any problems, post back.

netgear technical support told me that if I put the #2 disk in the #1 slot I stand the chance of corrupting all of the data. Is that correct?

To Mr Cowdogex,
If you have a 4 Bay, NV+ version 1

Can you see my post
viewtopic.php?f=20&t=64431

Contact Netgear Tech support, and we may be able to get a replacement power
supply out to you.

Regards,
Marto

cowdogex2 - what is the status of your backup?