Dynamic

[SamSystems]

Just purchased Acronis do a drive copy and it says it has detected dynamic drives. Now what? How do I un-dynamic my drives without loosing data? The advertizising materials say this is no problem. Error code E00010F4

Thanks,

[TheQuest]

Hi, SamSystems

HOWTO: Convert a dynamic disk back to a basic disk without data loss

**Disclaimer: This ONLY works if you have NOT used ANY of the "new" features of dynamic disks such as extending a partition or software RAID. This is an expert-level procedure, so if you don't know what you are doing, you shouldn't be attempting this.**

1) Install dskprobe.exe on the system. (This is one of the utilities in the Win2K or WinXP support tools on the install CD, and can be installed by simply copying the .exe file to the hard drive.)
2) Run dskprobe.exe on the system.
3) Select the Drives menu and "Physical Drive. . ."
4) Double click on the drive that you want to convert back to a basic disk. Click the "Set Active" button next to that drive.
5) From the Sectors menu, select "Read"
6) Accept the defaults (begin sector 0, read 1 sector) and click "Read"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7) In the editor, go to the "01C0" line and the third bit should be a "42".Change that to a "07".
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8 ) From the Sectors menu, select "Write". Confirm all dialog boxes. **Note: This is the step that will hose your box if you have not followed the above instructions correctly.**
9) Exit dskprobe.exe. Reboot
10) Run chkdsk on the affected logical drive(s). If any errors are found, do a chkdsk /f to fix them. Done.

Take Care,
TheQuest 8)

[jcdagget]

;D You just saved me -- thanks a million for this tip!!! My computer's motherboard died on me, but I had three dynamic hard drives with all sorts of personal work saved on them. I am now connected to my fiancee's laptop via and external HD enclosure. However, it would not recognize the dynamic disk, and I needed to convert back to basic without wiping the data. I also had no way to make a back-up. Thanks again for this tip!!!!

[shieber]

Also, could one not copy all of the data files to another disk, then reformat the Dynamic disk as a basic disk?

Granted, not fun, but a possible way to go if necessary? And not requiring much expertise, jsut the patience of Job.

;)