Re: Dynamic to basic disk?

"Shenan Stanley" <newshelper@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in
news:e4Tk6uWIIHA.588@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:

DWalker wrote:
Assuming there are no mirror sets, extended partitions, and no more
than 4 partitions on a disk, WHY IN THE WORLD doesn't Microsoft
provide code that lets us convert a dynamic disk volume to a basic
volume without losing data?

I have a mirrored disk (boot disk) on our server that I would like
to make larger. I should be able to break the mirror, convert the
volume to basic, delete the partition following the boot partition
(which is a backup boot partition), use DISKPART to extend the
volume, then convert back to a dynamic again and recreate the
mirror.

(I am aware that I can extend a volume on a dynamic disk, into any
unallocated space, but I want to make sure it becomes one contiguous
partition.)

There are other reasons that we might want to convert dynamic to
basic -- for example, using Partition Magic or its cousins... most
of which only work on basic disks. Having to lose all of the data
just seems like the programmers didn't want to be bothered with
writing this code. Surely it's not rocket science! I could look
into writing a utility myself, except I understand that the format
of the dynamic disk database is not documented.

http://mypkb.wordpress.com/2007/03/28/how-to-non-destructively-
convert-
dynamic-disks-to-basic-disks/


.... Postscript: The MS KB article that is referenced in the link that
you sent says:

"This process works only if you have not used any one of the new
features of dynamic disks. These features include extending a partition
or using software redundant array of independent disks (RAID)."

But I have used software RAID, so that option might be out. Even if I
break the mirrors, it's not clear if the process will work. (The
wording says it won't work if you HAVE USED (past tense) the new
features of dynamic disks. So from the plain language, it won't work.)

The "testdisk" method first says to copy all of the files to a separate
partition. Is this just for backup? At the end, it says "This is where
you can make the dynamic to basic drive conversion happen." Just
writing the "new" partition information to the disk makes it into a
basic disk? It's not entirely clear. Why would I write a "new"
partition structure to disk? I want the existing partition structure
that's reflected in the dynamic disk database, written to the old-style
partition table. Maybe that's what "testdisk" does. It's third-party,
unsupported software, so it's a little scary.

David Walker
.

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