Accidently converted HDD from basic to dynamic

[cpayne52]

Hello, I recently built my first PC and have had a couple of hiccups along the way.

I have an SSD with Windows 10 on it and a 1TB HDD for everything else.

I went into disk manager to try and allocate the HDD so it would show up in My Computer, and converted it to dynamic by mistake.

I don't know what a dynamic disk means compared to basic, but I do know I no longer have the option to witch it back, even though there are no files on the hard drive.

I found a few threads here and on other sites addressing this issue, but I could not make any sort of sense of them.

I do no fully care to know the difference between dynamic and basic, I would just /really/ appreciate a way to convert it back to basic and hopefully without installing some third-party software.

thanks

 

[01111111]

Dynamic disks are generally used when creating software raids. Nothing bad will happen if the disk is set to dynamic but to change it back just delete any volumes on the drive and right click convert to basic. The re-create a volume n the drive.

 

[cpayne52]

I right clicked it again, and the option to convert back to basic is grayed out. There is nothing on the hard drive.

 

[ArtPog]

You are most wise to change a dynamic disk back to a basic disk before data is created on the disk. In virtually every case for the average PC user there is no need or basic advantage for creating a dynamic disk. And more times than not creating a dynamic disk will create its own set of problems by & by. You can make boot on it!

Did you follow these instructions?...
1. Back up all volumes on the disk you want to convert from dynamic to basic.

2. In Disk Management, right-click each volume on the dynamic disk you want to convert to a basic disk, and then click Delete Volume for each volume on the disk.

 

[cpayne52]

When I try to delete the "system reserved" volume, it says "Windows cannot delete the system volume on this disk." I can delete "New Volume," but it just returns to I unallocated space.

Either way, i am not give the option to convert back to basic. The option is still grayed-out.

 

[ArtPog]

In your original post you inferred there was no data on the disk. But now you've indicated there's a System Reserved partition on the drive. So it's obvious there had been prior data activity re that drive. As long as that is so Windows will not permit changing a dynamic disk to a basic disk unless ALL data has been removed from the disk.

Therefore...right-click on the Start button in the lower-left corner of the screen and select the Command Prompt (Admin) option from the menu. At that prompt you will access the Diskpart utility to invoke the Clean command involving the HDD. I assume you've had no experience using Diskpart so do a Google search on "using diskpart to invoke clean command".

 

[ArtPog]

In lieu of using the Diskpart command you might first try using Disk Management to assign a drive letter to the SR partition; then attempt deleting the partition that way. Doesn't always work but worth a try.

 

[cpayne52]

I tried deleting the volume and converting to basic in command prompt as administrator. It says it will not let me convert because it is not empty. When I try and delete the 500mb volume, it says it can't because it contains boot info. How do I resolve this?

I don't believe the 500mb volume was there until I converted it to dynamic. I hadn't saved anything or used the HDD at all until I attempted to allocate it.

 

[ArtPog]

Did you try to use the Diskpart clean command re the HDD? That HDD is connected as a secondary HDD, right? Your SSD is the bootable drive, right? And except for the SR partition there is no other data on that HDD, right?

 

[cpayne52]

When I select the HDD, which /shouldn't'/ have boot info on it because I installed Windows on the SSD, the only volume that shows up is the 500mb SR volume because the rest is still unallocated. When I enter "clean" it says it isn't an option because it has boot/system info on it, but I don't know why.

But that is all correct, the HDD was secondary, I installed the OS on the SSD, and there are no files or used space aside from the SR volume on the HDD

 

[ArtPog]

And you used the clean command in Diskpart, yes? And in Diskpart you selected the correct disk, i.e., the HDD serving as a secondary disk, right? Tell me the PRECISE wording from Diskpart indicating the clean command that you entered failed.

 

[cpayne52]

Virtual Disk Service error:
Delete is not allowed on the current boot, system, pagefile,
crashdump or hibernation volume.

 

[cpayne52]

Also, when I type "clean" it says the exact same thing except replace "delete" with "clean"

 

[ArtPog]

After selecting the partition in diskpart try this command: delete partition override <Enter>

 

[cpayne52]

Gave the same error

 

[ArtPog]

I honestly don't know why these errors are appearing. Unless someone coming upon this thread can provide an answer, the only thing that comes to mind to resolve this situation is to use a program like DBAN or KillDisk to completely wipe the disk.

 

[cpayne52]

Went to a friends house, wiped SSD and HDD, reinstalled Windows and everything is working good now. Thanks so much for your help and responses

 

[ArtPog]

Glad to hear it all finally worked out. Whew!