How to return a dynamic disk to a basic one. Convert a basic disk to a dynamic disk

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 essence, 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, it is also difficult to restore it 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 installation of 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.

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 disks 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).

In Windows, connected hard drives are initialized as Basic Disks by default. Basic, or basic, disks are compatible with all versions of Windows. These are ordinary disks on which primary (primary) and logical partitions are created.

The basic disk type is defined for most storage media included in users' computer devices.

But while they are more common, basic disks offer less functionality than the other type of disks—dynamic, floppy, and configurable disks. What are dynamic disks, what are their capabilities, pros and cons, how partitions are created on such disks using Windows tools - we will consider these questions below.

1. About dynamic disks

Dynamic disks are a technology borrowed under license from Microsoft, it comes with Windows starting with version 2000, and is a software implementation of RAID arrays. The technology is not supported in editions of Windows Home.

Dynamic disk technology provides additional opportunities for allocating hard disk space to make it easier to work with data, ensure its safety, and also increase computer performance by combining the speed of different disks. Dynamic disks offer features that are not supported by basic type disks, such as:

  • increasing the size of partitions using space on the entire disk, and not only if there is adjacent free space (unallocated space);
  • support for partitions created from the volume of several hard drives;
  • support for basic RAID configurations.

Among the advantages of this technology is a greater degree of reliability than using cheap RAID controllers. But only if we are talking about cheap RAID controllers with their disadvantages such as driver errors or the possibility of data loss. The technology included in Windows is naturally inferior to full-fledged, expensive RAID controllers. In terms of removing the load from the processor, in principle, any hardware RAID array will be more effective than one implemented using software. But expensive RAID controllers will perform their tasks using their own resources, and will offer wider functionality and provide fault tolerance.

Dynamic disks also have other disadvantages. They cannot be accessed from devices based on earlier versions of the system (starting from Windows XP Home and below). Only one Windows system can be installed on dynamic disks; another Windows system cannot exist on another partition.

During the process of reinstalling Windows (its modern versions 7, 8.1 and 10), only a single partition of the dynamic disk will be available for formatting and selection as the system one - the partition on which Windows was previously located before the reinstallation.

The process of reinstalling Windows on a dynamic disk may take a long time. Often, because a new system sees a dynamic disk as an error disk, it will run the Chkdsk service to scan and fix errors. Intrusive Chkdsk activity is also encountered by users who have connected to their computer a dynamic disk taken from another computer. To be sure to avoid problems with reinstalling Windows on a dynamic disk, you can convert it to a basic one before this process. And after reinstalling the system, perform the reverse process of converting the disk to dynamic.

Partitions on dynamic disks, as well as on basic ones, are configured by default to be formatted in the NTFS file system when created. The maximum partition size on dynamic MBR disks is 2 TB, and on dynamic GPT disks – 18 TB. For dynamic disks, there are no concepts of primary and logical partitions, as there are for basic type disks. Dynamic disk partitions have their own specifics, and they are not related to restrictions on the number of partitions created. As for the number of possible partitions, there are no restrictions for dynamic type disks.

2. Convert basic disks to dynamic disks

You can convert disks from basic to dynamic using Windows itself, using the diskmgmt.msc (disk management) utility. In all versions of Windows, it is called by pressing the Win + R keys (launching the “Run” window) and entering:

Any of your computer's disks can be converted from basic to dynamic. This transformation is carried out in two ways. The first method is manual conversion, when the context menu is called up on the disk and the “Convert to dynamic disk” option is enabled.

Having chosen this method, you then need to either leave only the current drive, or check the boxes on all connected drives for batch conversion.

We confirm the decision in a window with a notification that other Windows on other disk partitions will no longer be able to start.

That's it, after these steps the disk will turn into dynamic.

Another way to convert a disk to dynamic is to run dynamic disk operations. And these are also provided on the basic disk, as long as it has unallocated space. In this case, the operated disk is assigned a dynamic type by default.

In addition, when you delete partitions on a dynamic disk, it is automatically converted to a basic one. But if a dynamic disk already has a partition structure, you won’t be able to turn it into a basic disk using Windows. But such an opportunity is available in Acronis Disk Director, a functional program for working with disk space. The program can convert dynamic disks to basic ones without losing files stored on such disks.

3. Creating partitions on dynamic disks using Windows

What are the specifics of partitions (volumes) formed on dynamic disks? How are dynamic disk volumes created?

3.1. Simple volume

A simple dynamic disk volume is a regular partition, just like the one created on a basic disk. It can be created from free space on only one media. To create it on the free space of a dynamic disk, you need to call the context menu, then select “Create a simple volume” and go through the wizard steps.

3.2. Split Volume

A spanned volume is created from the capacity of several hard drives. Creating compound volumes is used when it is necessary to create one large partition from several hard drives, for example, from old HDDs with a capacity of 80 GB. The maximum number of hard drives from which a spanned volume can be formed is 32. When moving data to a spanned volume, files are written sequentially - first to one hard drive, then to another, then to a third, etc. A spanned volume is vulnerable: if one hard drive fails, user files may be lost even though the other drives are functional. In a spanned volume, everything is interconnected, and without one of the links in the chain - one of the disks - the partition will simply cease to exist.

To create a spanned volume, you need to call up the context menu on the free space of one of the disks and click “Create spanned volume”.

All basic partition parameters are set in the disk selection window. In the “Available” column, select the available hard drives and transfer them to the “Selected” column using the “Add” button. Below, for any of the added disks, we can set a specific size allocated for the spanned volume if not all the space on the disk is allocated.

And when finished, click “Done”. After which we will see the created spanned volume located on several disks.

3.3. Striped volume

A striped volume (RAID 0 configuration) is created from two or more hard drives and is filled with data not sequentially, as provided by the arrangement of a spanned volume, but in parallel. Data is simultaneously written to all disks and also read from all disks simultaneously, which allows you to increase the speed of operations. True, the speed of data access will in any case be determined by the capabilities of the slower disk. A striped volume, like a composite volume, is not fault-tolerant. If one of the disks fails, files on the striped volume will not be accessible.

As such, there are two types of computer hard drives: primary and dynamic disk. Basic drives are commonly used media with Windows. They contain partitions - primary partitions and logical drives - which are usually formatted with a file system. Dynamic disks provide the ability to create fault-tolerant volumes and can even span multiple disks—basic disks cannot. We can easily convert basic disk to dynamic on our Windows XP, 2003, 2008, Windows 7, Windows 8 operating systems, but it is quite difficult to convert dynamic disk to basic. Why does this happen? This is because Windows disk manager does not support converting a dynamic disk that contains volume(s) or partition(s) in a basic disk, and it will only allow you to convert those disks that do not contain volumes or partitions.

Dynamic disks and basic disks

Basic disk: a certain physical disk that can be worked with in MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System) and all Windows-based operating systems. It can contain up to 4 primary partitions or 3 primary partitions and 1 secondary partition, which contains multiple logical partitions.

Dynamic disk: This is also a kind of disk whose function is similar to the primary partition on a basic disk. However, it can split and share data between drives. For example, a dynamic disk may actually consist of storage space that is divided into two disks. In addition, a dynamic disk can copy data between disks in the event of some disk damage. This feature requires larger disks, but is more reliable.

The Windows operating system supports two types of disks: basic disk and dynamic disk. Basic disks are used to manage data on disks using primary partitions, secondary partitions, and logical partitions; while the concept of dynamic disk was introduced by Microsoft starting with Windows 2000 and it was added to Disk Management. Dynamic disk storage uses disk space, with benefits such as the ability to create volumes and span devices across multiple disks. Therefore, more and more users want to use a dynamic disk instead of a regular one, and are looking for methods to convert their basic disks to dynamic ones. However, since some Windows operating systems (Windows NT, MS-DOS and all operating systems Microsoft Home Edition, Vista Home Basic Edition, Windows 7 Home Basic Edition...) do not support dynamic disk, in some situations, you must convert the dynamic disk to base. Unfortunately, Windows does not provide services for such needs. However, users can use third-party programs such as AOMEI Partition Assistant to make this conversion. With AOMEI Partition Assistant, you can easily convert a dynamic disk to a basic disk without losing data, and in the same way, we could also easily convert a basic disk to dynamic, either by using the built-in Disk Management snap-in window or partition assistant.

Most home personal computers are configured with basic disks, but IT professionals typically prefer to use dynamic disks because they offer more functionality and improve reliability and performance. Currently, home versions of the Windows operating system support basic Enterprise/Pro/Ultimate disks in various versions of the Windows operating system, and also support dynamic disks. Microsoft lists the operations that can be performed on each of these types.

Work that can be performed on basic and dynamic disks:

  1. Check the disk properties, "Properties" and "Volume Properties" sections.
  2. Set the drive letter assignment for a disk volume or partitions.
  3. Supports both MBR and GPT style partitions.
  4. Convert a basic disk to a dynamic disk or a dynamic disk to a basic disk.

Operations that can only be performed on dynamic disks:

  1. Create and delete simple, spanned, striped, mirrored and RAID-5 volumes.
  2. Make extensions for a simple or spanned volume.
  3. Remove a mirror from a mirrored volume.
  4. Make a mirror volume break in two volumes.
  5. Repair a mirrored volume or RAID-5 volume.
  6. Ability to activate a missing or disabled disk.

Convert a basic disk to a dynamic disk

Before you start this process, you should know that you may lose data as a result of this operation, so it is imperative that you back up your data to an external hard drive first. So let's get started only if you know what you're doing and be careful.

If you are using a basic disk as shadow copy storage, it is important to take the following precautions to avoid data loss and you intend to convert the basic disk to a dynamic disk. If the disk does not have a boot volume where the source files are stored, you must first unmount and remove the volume containing the source files that contains shadow copies to the dynamic disk before converting the disk. You must bring the volume containing the original files back within 20 minutes, otherwise, you will lose data stored in existing shadow copies. If the shadow copies are on a boot volume, you can convert the disk to dynamic without losing the shadow copies.

Using the user interface

To convert to Windows 8.1, open the WinX menu and select Disk Management. Right-click on the disk and select "Convert to Dynamic Disk". You will be prompted to check the disk again and click on the “Convert later” button. The process will begin and the disk will be converted to a dynamic disk.

Using the command line

Open an elevated command prompt and type diskpart and press Enter.

Now enter the type select diskn and press Enter.

Enter the following type convert dynamic and press Enter.

Convert dynamic disk to basic disk

Using Disk Management

Using Disk Management - To convert a dynamic disk to a basic disk, right-click on the volume you want to convert to a basic disk, and for each volume on the disk, select Delete Volume. Once all volumes on the disk have been removed, right-click on the disk and select Convert to Basic Disk. The conversion operation will begin.

Using CMD

Open a command prompt and type diskpart and press Enter.

Enter the following type list disk and write down the disk number, the disk you want to convert to basic. Now enter the data and press the Enter key, one after the other:

  1. Enter type select disk .
  2. Enter type detail disk .
  3. For each volume on the disk, enter the type select volume=<номер тома> and then type delete volume.
  4. Enter type select disk . Specify the number of the disk that you want to convert to a basic disk.

Finally enter the typeconvert basic and press Enter. The conversion operation will begin.

Remember that before you perform any of these operations, you should always make a backup. And also never Convert the basic disk that contains the dynamic disk operating system, as this may make the system unbootable.

1. Log in to the system as the Administrator user or one of the users who has administrative rights in the local system (Administrators group).
2. Having launched the Disk Management snap-in, point the cursor to one of the basic disks available in the system, right-click and select the Convert to Dynamic Disk... command from the context menu (Fig. 8.2).
3. The Convert to Dynamic Disk dialog box will appear on the screen, which will list all the physical disks that can be converted from basic to dynamic (Figure 8.3). Select the check boxes next to all drives that you want to convert and click OK. In the window that appears next, you will see a list of drives selected for conversion. By clicking the Details button in this window, you can view a list of volumes that will be contained on these disks after conversion. To start converting, click the Convert button.

Rice. 8.2. Convert a basic disk to a dynamic disk

Rice. 8.3. Window for selecting base disks for conversion

It's worth noting again that while converting a disk from basic to dynamic occurs without losing any data, the reverse cannot be converted without deleting all the volumes (and therefore losing all the data they contained). For this reason, if you need to convert your disk back to a basic one, you should be sure to perform a backup.
If the disk you select to convert to dynamic has boot partitions that contain other operating systems installed, the system will issue a standard warning before the conversion actually takes place that no other operating system will be able to boot from the volumes present on the drive. dynamic disks. In most cases, you do not need to restart your computer after completing the conversion, but there are exceptions to this rule. Thus, a reboot will be required if one of the converted disks contains system or boot partitions or volumes on which a paging file or crash dump is stored.
After the conversion, all primary partitions and logical drives on the disk will become simple volumes (Fig. 8.4). According to the legend (lower part of the snap-in window), simple volumes are colored olive.

Rice. 8.4. After conversion to a dynamic format, all existing master partitions and logical drives on the disk are converted into simple volumes