What are dynamic disks? Convert a dynamic disk to a primary disk without loss

Basic disk: A disk is divided into partitions—parts that function as physically separate storage devices. Win2k03 supports two types of partitions: primary and secondary. The maximum number of partitions is always 4, and only one partition can be additional

Win2k03 uses primary partitions to start the computer. One of the main partitions must be marked as active.

The active partition stores boot files and is used to start the OS. Only one primary partition on one hard drive can be active at a time.

The Win2k03 system partition (or system volume) is the active partition containing files for loading the OS.

The boot partition Win2k03 is the main partition or logical drive on which the OS files are installed. The boot and system partitions can occupy one partition. However, the system partition must be located on the active partition (usually the C: drive), while the boot partition can be located on another primary or secondary partition.

An additional partition (extended partition) can be created from the remaining free space. There can only be one additional partition on a hard drive, so it is optimal to use all the remaining free space to create an additional partition. Unlike the main ones, the additional section does not need to be formatted and does not have to be designated by a letter of the alphabet. The additional partition is divided into segments - logical drives. You must name the logical drive and format it using one of the file systems. The number of logical drives is limited by letters of the Latin alphabet.

Volume types for dynamic disks: You can upgrade a basic disk to a dynamic disk and then create Win2k03 volumes. Fault tolerance is the ability of a computer or OS to avoid data loss in the event of a failure.

Volume types:

A simple volume is disk space on a single hard drive. A simple volume can occupy multiple areas (up to 32) on a single disk. It does not provide fault tolerance. The data in it is even more vulnerable, since the larger the size of a simple volume, the higher the likelihood of losing information due to the failure of any of its sections

A spanned volume includes the space of several disks (up to 32). When writing data to a spanned volume, Win2k03 completely fills the first disk, then the second, and does the same with all disks in the volume. A spanned volume is not fault tolerant. Failure of one of the disks results in the loss of data on the entire volume.

A mirrored volume (RAID1) consists of two identical copies of a simple volume, each of which is located on a separate hard drive. Mirrored volumes improve resiliency in the event of hard drive failure.

A striped volume, or RAID-0, combines areas of free space on multiple disks (up to 32) into one logical volume. When working with a striped volume, Win2k03 optimizes execution by writing data to the disks evenly. If one of the disks in a striped volume fails, the entire volume's data is lost. Therefore, like simple and spanned volumes, a RAID-0 volume does not provide fault tolerance.

RAID5 volume. Fault-tolerant. Win2k03 adds checksum blocks to each volume disk; These blocks allow you to restore volume data if any hard drive fails. Creating a RAID-5 volume requires a minimum of 3 hard drives

RAID10 volume: A mirrored array that is written sequentially across multiple drives, like RAID 0.

File systems: A file system (FS) is a part of any operating system that is responsible for organizing storage and access to information on any media. In a broad sense, the file system includes: the collection of all files on the disk, sets of service data structures used to manage files, such as, for example, file directories, file descriptors, tables for the distribution of free and used space on the disk, a set of system software tools that implement management files, in particular the operations of creating, destroying, reading, writing, naming files, setting attributes and access levels, searching, etc.

FAT File System: The FAT (File Allocation Table) file system was developed by Bill Gates and Mark McDonald in 1977.

There are currently three types of FAT file systems:

FAT12 supports very small disk sizes, so now it is only used on floppy disks.

FAT16 is used on hard drives and supports disks up to 2 GB, so now this file system is practically not used.

FAT32 - theoretically supports disks up to 2 TB. Supported starting from the Windows 95 OSR2 operating system. This file system is now quite popular, although in recent years many Windows XP users prefer to use NTFS (New Technology File System).

Structure

Boot sector

At the beginning of a disk partition with the FAT file system is the boot sector. It is required to boot your computer. It also contains information about the parameters of this section.

File Allocation Table

The entire data area of ​​the disk is divided into clusters - blocks, the size of which is set when formatting the disk. On a floppy disk, for example, the cluster size is 512 bytes. And on modern hard drives with a disk capacity of more than 32 GB, the cluster size is 32 KB. Each file and directory occupies one or more clusters. Thus, chains of clusters are formed.

In the file allocation table, each cluster is marked in a special way. The label size in bits for each cluster is indicated in the file system name. Those. for the FAT16 file system the label size will be 16 bytes, for FAT32 - 32, etc.

There are three types of labels for clusters:

Free cluster - a cluster into which new files and directories will be written.

Busy cluster - the label indicates the next cluster in the chain. If the chain of clusters ends, the cluster is marked with a special label.

BAD block - a cluster with access errors. Marked when formatting a disk to prevent future access to it.

Corruption of the file allocation table completely destroys the file system structure, so there are always two copies of the table stored on disk.

Root directory

The area of ​​the disk that contains information about the root directory. Its size is limited, so the root directory of the disk can contain no more than 512 files and subdirectories.

Data area

The remaining part of the partition that contains the contents of files and directories.

Disadvantages of the FAT system:

The FAT file system always fills the free space on the disk sequentially from beginning to end -> fragmentation

Performance is highly dependent on the number of files stored in one directory (has a linear, unordered structure, and file names in directories are in the order in which they were created)

The advantages of other file systems become noticeable only when used on media larger than 100 MB

Comparison of file systems:

Implemented and used by most operating systems (MS-DOS, Windows 95/98/Me, Windows 2000 and Windows XP, OS/2, UNIX).

Currently only supported on Windows 95/98/Me, Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

Very effective for logical drives smaller than 256 MB.

Does not work with disks smaller than 512 MB.

Supports disk compression, for example using the DriveSpace algorithm.

Does not support disk compression.

Processes a maximum of 65,525 clusters, the size of which depends on the size of the logical disk. Since the maximum cluster size is 32 KB, FAT16 can work with logical drives no larger than 2 GB.

Capable of working with logical disks up to 2,048 GB with a maximum cluster size of 32 KB.

The larger the size of the logical disk, the less efficient the storage of files in the FAT"16 system, since the size of the clusters also increases. Space for files is allocated by clusters, and therefore, with the maximum size of a logical disk, a file of 10 KB in size will require 32 KB, and 22 KB of disk space space will be wasted.

On logical drives smaller than 8 GB, the cluster size is 4 KB.

NTFS file system: developed by Microsoft in the early 1990s. as the main file system for server versions of Windows operating systems. NTFS was introduced in 1993 in the Windows NT 3.1 operating system.

Currently, NTFS is considered the preferred file system for both server and client versions of Windows.

NTFS uses 64-bit cluster IDs, so theoretically an NTFS volume can contain 264 clusters (16 TB3). However, current Windows implementations only support 32-bit cluster addressing, which, with a maximum cluster size of 64 KB (216 bytes), allows NTFS to reach a size of up to 256 TB:

232 * 216 bytes = 248 bytes = 28 * 240 bytes = 256 TB.

For volumes larger than 4 GB, Windows suggests a default cluster size of 4 KB when formatting.

Some NTFS features:

recoverability is the ability of a file system to return to a working state after a failure occurs. This possibility is realized, firstly, due to the support of atomic transactions, and secondly, due to the redundancy of information storage. An atomic transaction is an operation on the file system that results in a change to the file system, which either succeeds completely or fails at all (i.e., if an atomic transaction fails, all changes are rolled back). Redundancy is used when storing the most important file system data that is critical for its correct operation;

security - protection of files from unauthorized access. It is implemented using the Windows security model, discussed in Lecture 9 “Security in Windows”;

encryption - converting a file into an encrypted code that cannot be read without a key. Conventional security mechanisms, such as assigning user access rights to files, do not fully protect information, for example, if the disk is moved to another computer. An operating system administrator can always access other users' files, even on an NTFS volume. Therefore, NTFS includes support for the Encrypting File System (EFS), which makes it easy to encrypt and decrypt files;

RAID support (Redundant Array of Inexpensive (Independent) Disks - an array of inexpensive (independent) disks with redundancy) - the ability to use several disks to store information; data from one disk is automatically copied to others, thereby ensuring increased reliability;

disk quotas for users (Per-User Volume Quotas) - the ability to allocate specific disk space (quotas) for each user; NTFS does not allow the user to write data to the disk in excess of the allocated quota.

NTFS volume structure:

At the beginning of the volume there is a Volume Boot Record, which contains the Windows boot code, information about the volume (in particular, the file system type), and addresses of system files ($Mft and $MftMirr - see below). The boot record usually takes up 8 KB (first 16 sectors).

In a certain area of ​​the volume (the address of the beginning of this area is indicated in the boot record) the main NTFS system structure is located - the Master File Table (MFT). The entries in this table contain all the information about the location of files on the volume, and small files are stored directly in the MFT entries.

An important feature of NTFS is that all information, both user and system, is stored in the form of files. System file names begin with the "$" sign. For example, the volume's boot record is contained in the file $Boot, and the master file table is contained in the file $Mft. This organization of information allows you to work uniformly with both user and system data on the volume.

Since the MFT is the most important system structure that is most frequently accessed during volume operations, it is advantageous to store the $Mft file in a contiguous area of ​​the logical disk to avoid its fragmentation (placing it in different areas of the disk), and, therefore, increase the speed of working with it . For this purpose, when formatting a volume, a contiguous area called the MFT Zone is allocated. As the master file table grows, the $Mft file expands, taking up reserved space in the zone.

The rest of the space on the NTFS volume is allocated for files - system and user.

The main advantages of the NTFS file system are its security from unauthorized access. This file system has no restrictions on the size of files and directories. Its also feature is logging - recording all operations before their execution in a special journal. If a failure occurs while performing operations with the file system (the operating system freezes, a power outage, etc.), it will be able to return itself to its previous state based on log entries. However, in the event of a serious failure, it will be very difficult, sometimes impossible, to restore information. The reason for this is the lack of official file system documentation from Microsoft. Another disadvantage of NTFS is its incompatibility with older versions of operating systems (Windows 95, 98).

At one time, the creators of the Windows NT 5.0 operating system (which appeared to the world on February 17, 2000) brought with them many new interesting features compared to their predecessors.

One of the most notable innovations in Windows 2000 was dynamic disks - the exact opposite of the old primary (or "basic") disks, which were standard disk drives and first appeared in MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System). Any primary drive has the corresponding structure:

  • System partition(sometimes referred to as “main”) is a partition containing the basic files of the operating system (for example, Windows files). As a rule, the system partition is designated by the letter “C”.
  • Additional section- this is a section that stores the user’s personal data (for example, photos, songs, videos).
  • Logical drive- this is part of an additional partition that performs the same functions as the system partition. The only difference between this disk and the system partition is the inability to run the operating system on it.

Dynamic disks, in turn, support the concept of volumes, which are storage units using unused areas of the hard drive.

Any dynamic disk volume can have the following structure:

  • Simple Volume- analogous to a regular partition in basic disks. Placed on only one hard drive. Has average performance.
  • Split Volume- many simple volumes combined into one large volume. Unlike a simple volume, it can be placed on several hard drives at the same time. This leads to an important disadvantage of a spanned volume - the high risk of losing information if one of the hard drives fails.
  • Mirror Volume- this is a set of volumes that ensure the safety of data due to their duplication. All data contained on the first disk is copied to the second. Therefore, if one of the disks fails, duplicated information will be available on the other disk. A mirrored volume is a good example of reliability, but it is offset by poor performance due to copying data to the mirror disk.
  • Striped Volume- an analogue of a spanned volume (must have at least two disks), but differs from it in that information is distributed evenly across all disks that are part of a striped volume. A hard drive failure can cause complete data loss beyond recovery. To compensate, a striped volume provides high speed data writes to disk.

From basic to dynamic

To make the primary disk dynamic, you need:

  • Select the "Disk Management" option (it's located in Control panels, then go to the “Administration” section, and then to “Computer Management”).
  • Using the Run tool (Win + R) and entering the command diskmgmt.msc

A small window will appear on the screen with the appropriate name.

  1. In the menu on the left, the user must select the “Disk Management” section. Further conversion is carried out by right-clicking, for example, on the first disk and selecting the command “Convert to dynamic disk...”
  2. A warning will appear that after this procedure the user will not be able to install Windows on this disk (the ability to select the converted disk in the Windows installation menu will not be available).

And back

It is worth noting that the user can make a dynamic disk a basic one, but this process will take a little longer.

Moreover, before this you should copy all information from a dynamic disk to another medium.

  1. Without leaving the Computer Management window, you need to define a dynamic disk (it differs from the basic one by a shaded field).
  2. Next, in the “Action” menu, select “All tasks”, and then click on “Delete volume”.
  3. A window will appear informing you that all data will be lost if this operation is performed. We agree.
  4. Now the inscription (under “Disk [number]” in the light gray block on the left) about the current status of the disk will change from “Good” to “Not allocated”.
  5. Then, by right-clicking on the light gray (pale) block, call up the context menu and select the option “Convert to basic disk...”
  6. The label under “Disk [number]” will change to “Basic”.
  7. Selecting the white block of this disk, run the Partition Creation Wizard (“Action”, “All tasks”, “Create partition...”)
  8. In the wizard window, first select the partition type, set its size (or accept the value suggested by the computer), select the letter with which our disk will be designated (or accept the one suggested by the computer), the cluster size and check the box next to the “Quick format” item.
  9. Click on “Finish”.

If you've ever tried to partition your disk, change existing partitions, or format a drive using built-in Windows tools, you've probably noticed that each physical drive is labeled as "Basic" or "Dynamic". The choice of disk type determines the list of available functions and capabilities. This article will tell you the difference between a basic disk and a dynamic disk, and how to convert a basic disk to a dynamic disk and vice versa.

What to choose: basic or dynamic disk?

What is a basic disk

Basic disk is the most popular type of storage and is most often used in consumer computers running the Windows operating system. This is a drive containing main partitions and logical drives, which in turn are formatted accordingly for the preferred file system. As a result, the user receives a disk ready to store any type of data. Basic disk logic is also used in removable USB drives. If you connect a flash drive or external drive to your computer, they are essentially basic storage media.

You can expand and shrink partitions on a basic disk to redistribute the media structure, create and delete basic and extended partitions, create logical disks, and format a disk and mark it as active.

For the average consumer, a basic disk is sufficient for all operating system needs, so there is no point in converting a basic disk to a dynamic one. This should only be done if you want to take advantage of the benefits and features of dynamic disks, which are discussed below.

What is a dynamic disk

Dynamic disks give users access to additional features and functionality not available with basic disks. For example, sections that span several physical disks(one partition on several physical disks), as well as the ability to create fault-tolerant mirror partitions and RAID-5 configurations. Like basic disks, dynamic media can work with MBR and GUID markings. Dynamic disks can be managed very flexibly and conveniently due to the volume design principle. Such disks use a special 1 MB database at the end of the disk (on MBR drives) or the same 1 MB database on a reserved (hidden) disk with GPT partitioning. Because of this feature, Windows will not be able to convert a basic disk to dynamic if it does not have at least 1 MB of unallocated space. Consider this fact if you want to turn a basic disk into a dynamic one.

Dynamic disks use separate partition management algorithms that allow one partition to be created on different physical media. Logical Disk Manager (LDM) and Virtual Disk Service (VDS) are used for this purpose. These tools make it possible to convert a basic disk into a dynamic one, as well as create fault-tolerant partitions.

If the above doesn't make any sense to you, you should use a regular basic disk and not waste time converting a basic disk to a dynamic one.

How to convert a basic disk to dynamic

Converting a basic disk to a dynamic one is a very simple procedure that will not take you much time. It also does not require downloading additional software. Everything is done with built-in Windows controls.

For your information: You can convert a basic disk to a dynamic disk without having to change its structure or format it. Reverse conversion is possible only after completely deleting all partitions (provided that this procedure is performed using the tools built into Windows 10..

How to convert a dynamic disk to a basic one

To convert a dynamic disk to a basic one, you simply need to remove all partitions from the drive, so make sure that you back up important information.


How to make a dynamic disk basic without data loss

As was said in the previous paragraph, you can turn a dynamic disk into a basic one using system tools only by completely deleting all existing partitions. In this case, the disk automatically turns into a basic one. If this option does not suit you, you will have to use third-party applications. The EaseUS Partition Master application will do an excellent job with this task. The application is paid, but its demo version will be enough to perform the task you need.

For your information: We do not recommend converting a disk with the system installed on it using third-party tools, as this may lead to the system no longer starting and you will have to. With other disks with regular data, conversion should proceed without problems, but we still recommend making a backup copy of important information. Just in case.


Dynamic disk is a hard drive formatted in a non-standard way. The principle and algorithm of this formatting belongs to Microsoft. A dynamic format means storing additional metadata on disk, which is why even with normal formatting, Windows always (always) reserves about disk space. It is understood that sooner or later the user will want to turn a regular disk into a dynamic one.

At the same time, it is important for the user to always remember one thing.

There is no way to convert a dynamic disk to a regular (basic) one without reformatting the entire disk.

In fact, converting a regular (so-called “basic”) disk to a dynamic one is preparing it for participation in Windows software RAID.

Dynamic volume- These are partitions on dynamic disks linked in software RAID. In other words, this is what Microsoft employees call their software RAID arrays.

Using dynamic disks is the only way to create software RAID using Windows itself. In this case, information about the RAID structure is stored on the disk itself (in fact, this is why an additional 8 megabytes of disk space are needed).

This software RAID is very easy to create. Just go to the console snap-in mmc“Disk Management”, then everything is intuitive. But, as easy as it is to create, it is also difficult to restore later. More precisely, almost impossible.

Never use dynamic disks to store data.

More details

The best information on dynamic disks was provided by Chris Kaspersky aka mice in the article “The whole truth about dynamic disks”. I will give only selected quotes.

Dynamic disks appeared in NT 3.51 (according to other sources - in NT 4.0), only there they were called multidisks (multidisk) and were ordinary software RAIDs, widespread in the UNIX world.

Information about the configuration of multi-disks was stored in the registry and a system crash led to the loss of all data. The same was true for completely reinstalling the system or trying to move the hard drive to a system with a different NT. These shortcomings neutralized all the advantages of multidiscs, significantly limiting their scope of application.

Starting with W2K, Microsoft slightly improved the multi-disk manager and now configuration information is stored directly on the disk itself, from where it is read into the registry when the multi-disk is first mounted, thanks to which, on the one hand, Microsoft was able to avoid rewriting the old (and already debugged) code, and on the other - when the registry is destroyed, the system is reinstalled, or a disk (disk array) is connected to another system, they are mounted automatically.

For marketing reasons, multidisks were renamed dynamic disks, and Microsoft launched an entire marketing campaign to promote them to the market. Moreover, if when updating NT 4.0 to W2K, information about existing multi-disks was normally read from the registry, then XP does not see them, and therefore an attempt to update NT 4.0, which works with multi-disks, to XP or Server 2003/2008, leads to irreversible loss data that must first be copied to another medium.

In W2K+, information about dynamic disks is stored on the disks themselves in structures PRIVHEAD And LDM .

A dynamic disk is an ordinary software RAID, the implementations of which can be counted in dozens. Microsoft is promoting a solution that is not the best and, moreover, far from free, bombarding consumers with abstruse terminology and trademarks.

Six reasons against dynamic disks

First. Converting a basic disk to a dynamic one is an almost irreversible operation (the exception is Simple partitions, which can be turned into regular volumes by editing the disk at the sector level, see “Aerobatics or making a regular disk out of a dynamic disk,” but composite, striped, and even more so RAID-5 disks can only be converted back by copying data to external media, deleting dynamic disks and then creating regular partitions).

Second. Having converted the system disk to a dynamic one, we will no longer be able to update or reinstall Windows, since the dynamic disk installer, alas, does not understand and is unlikely to understand in the future (Server 2008 beta 3 still does not support such an operation).

Third. Linux and xBSD do not normally support dynamic disks and to work with them they require installing software from third-party manufacturers (for example, "Paragon LDM/NTFS driver" - http://paragon-software.com/), but this is not so bad. Some types of dynamic disks are supported only by "advanced" versions of Windows, and therefore, when upgrading Windows XP Home to Windows Vista Home Base/Premium, we are surprised to find that dynamic disks are missing. And all because Microsoft really wants money.

Fourth. If a disk volume is seriously damaged, restoring data on dynamic disks is much more difficult than on regular disks and is at least an order of magnitude more expensive. Hackers have just gutted the format that describes the structure of dynamic disks, but there are still many blank spots and there are currently no real working utilities for automated recovery.

Fifth. Dynamic disks have problems with the Cluster Service and Shadow copy, and in order not to mess up, you need to light up the Knowledge Base, and then, excuse the expression, put on a condom and have sex.

Sixth. “Serious” servers are traditionally equipped with hardware RAID controllers, while “non-serious” servers, in general, do not need dynamic disks and they cause more problems than they solve.

Aerobatics or turning a dynamic disc into a regular one

A simple volume obtained by upgrading a basic disk to a dynamic one can be returned back by launching the disk editor and changing the partition type from 42h to 07h. After a reboot, Disk Manager will lose the dynamic disk, marking it with a red cross, but this is not a big deal - and you can safely delete it. But it is recommended to check the restored basic disk with the chkdsk utility.

In Linux, you can do without a special partition editor.

The first 446 bytes on the disk are the bootloader code, followed by descriptions of the four main partitions, 16 bytes each. The section type code is the fifth byte in the description. ()

That is, to convert a dynamic disk to a basic one, you need to write a byte to the disk 07h with an offset of 450.

printf "\x07" | dd of=/dev/sdx bs=1 count=1 seek=450

/dev/sdx- our dynamic disk.

The original source, that is, Microsoft technical support, states the following about dynamic volumes.

Dynamic storage is supported on Windows 2000 and Windows XP Professional. A disk initialized for dynamic storage is called dynamic. A dynamic disk contains dynamic volumes, such as simple volumes, spanned volumes, striped volumes, mirrored volumes, and RAID-5 volumes.

Translated into Russian, it sounds like this: dynamic disks are needed only for RAID. Converting a disk from basic to dynamic is preparing it to participate in a RAID array.
Naturally, we are talking only about software RAID implemented using Windows OS.

IN striped volume Data is distributed sequentially and evenly across multiple physical disks. A striped volume cannot be mirrored, is not expanded, and is not failsafe. Another name for such volumes is RAID-0.

I'll reveal something terrible. Despite the impotence of software RAID in Windows, in general striped volumes (RAID-0) can be mirrored.
Although I agree, the perversion is terrible.

On the other hand, Microsoft is not shy about the quality of its technical support.

MICROSOFT AND/OR ITS SUPPLIERS MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS ABOUT THE SUITABILITY FOR ANY PURPOSE OF THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE DOCUMENTS AND RELATED GRAPHICS PUBLISHED ON THIS SERVER. ALL SUCH DOCUMENTS AND GRAPHICS ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND.

Terms of use for documentation, in black and white.

Total

  1. When creating dynamic volumes in Windows, a different, non-classical disk partitioning scheme is used
    They came up with their own marking scheme. Here, as elsewhere, Microsoft is ahead of the curve and does not use generally accepted standards.
  2. You can restore, view, and transfer information only using professional and server modifications of Windows.
  3. Never use dynamic disks or volumes to store data.

Users may know that the built-in disk management tool of the operating system provides us with the function converting a basic disk to a dynamic one. This transformation is irreversible. When we need to turn a basic disk into a dynamic disk, the hard drive management tool can realize the operation without any data corruption. But when we need conversion in the other direction, the tool will demonstrate its imperfection. It is not beneficial for anyone to remove all partitions to convert a dynamic disk to a primary one.

Partition changing software is developed by various companies. Different types of partition managers have corresponding functions. However, each one claims that their software can convert a dynamic disk to a primary one without deleting partitions. But, according to users, the security of these programs is far from ideal. After completing the operation, you may experience partition loss. This makes it doubtful whether it is possible to safely convert a dynamic disk to a basic one.

Crash Results

Regardless of the direction of disk conversion (basic to dynamic or dynamic disk to basic), partition management software only works on MBR.

The MBR, the master boot record, is located in the first sector of the entire hard drive, including the important partition table. It has records about the number of partitions, their size, starting sector, and so on. When using partition transformation software used for MBR, you need to be extremely careful as failure of the MBR will cause the partition to become corrupted. Moreover, if system information is affected, the operating system will crash.

Many types of partition managers modify the MBR during conversion between a dynamic disk and a basic one. Therefore, the partition could potentially be lost. The solution is to use more advanced software.

Safe conversion

What will help you convert a disc safely? MiniTool Partition Wizard is what you need. The program was created by a well-known Canadian partition management software company. She has been studying hard drives, compact drives, and other storage media for many years. Released software such as MiniTool Partition Wizard, MiniTool Power Data, etc. They are very popular among users, especially MiniTool Partition Wizard. Due to its powerful features and high security, the wizard is widely used by various users. Practice has proven that the software does not damage partition data. Therefore, the wizard will not cause data loss like other software does.

Use MiniTool Partition Wizard to convert a dynamic disk to a basic disk. Using the Mini Partition Wizard to convert a dynamic disk to a basic disk is very easy. It only takes two steps to start and finish the job.

Launch MiniTool Partition Wizard to enter the main interface of MiniTool Partition Wizard:

In this main interface, right-click the user you want to convert. Select "Convert Dynamic Disk to Basic Disk" from the context menu.

To avoid skipping, MiniTool Partition Wizard provides a preview option. It shows that the dynamic disk was successfully converted to basic. Click the Apply button on the toolbar to perform this operation.

The hard drive is a storage medium. When we manage its sections, data security comes first. The MiniTool Partition Wizard can help us ensure their safety. It is an indispensable tool for partition management. For more information, visit the official website of the partition changer https://www.partitionwizard.com/.