Can Dynamic Disks be Recovered after a XP Install?

[ryan.aghdam]

I currently have 5 disks in a dynamic disk configuration, totalling
over 1000 GB

My system is getting rather sluggish and I would like to reinstall XP.
Disk 0 is not dynamic and contains teh XP install. If i were to format
that drive, leaving the dynamic disks untouched, could I still read the
data on the dyanamic partitions after i Reinstall XP.

I have XP Pro if it makes any difference.


any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance.

 

[Chuck Davis]

I currently have 5 disks in a dynamic disk configuration, totalling
over 1000 GB

My system is getting rather sluggish and I would like to reinstall XP.
Disk 0 is not dynamic and contains teh XP install. If i were to format
that drive, leaving the dynamic disks untouched, could I still read the
data on the dyanamic partitions after i Reinstall XP.

I have XP Pro if it makes any difference.


any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance.

Your reason for formatting appears to be invalid. There are other problems
that need to be resolved which would eliminate the formatting.

 

[Alex Moreau]

Your reason for formatting appears to be invalid. There are other problems
that need to be resolved which would eliminate the formatting.

You could be right, but it would still be interesting to know the answer to
his question.

 

[Mistoffolees]

Your reason for formatting appears to be invalid. There are other problems
that need to be resolved which would eliminate the formatting.

You could be right, but it would still be interesting to know the answer to
his question.
[/QUOTE]

In theory, the dynamic disk should stay intact. However, funny
things are known to happen during Windows XP setup and there is
no guarantee that the dynamic disk will be recognized after the
re-installation on to the original Drive C (or whatever drive
letter XP setup could assign to that partition).

 

[Mistoffolees]

Your reason for formatting appears to be invalid. There are other problems
that need to be resolved which would eliminate the formatting.

You could be right, but it would still be interesting to know the answer to
his question.
[/QUOTE]

Also...forgot to mention that it also depends on the type
of "dynamic disk" that exists.

 

[Kerry Brown]

I currently have 5 disks in a dynamic disk configuration, totalling
over 1000 GB

My system is getting rather sluggish and I would like to reinstall XP.
Disk 0 is not dynamic and contains teh XP install. If i were to
format that drive, leaving the dynamic disks untouched, could I still
read the data on the dyanamic partitions after i Reinstall XP.

I have XP Pro if it makes any difference.


any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance.

I agree with the rest of the responses that your reason for reinstalling is
probably not justified.

I take it you have more than one disk and some have been converted to
dynamic. When reinstalling you should physically disconnect all the disks
except the one you are installing Windows to. Once Windows is installed hook
up the other disks. Run diskmgmt.msc and you will see the dynamic disks but
won't be able to access them. You should be able to right click on the drive
and "Import foreign disks".

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/.../proddocs/en-us/sag_disktrouble.mspx?mfr=true

Note you have to use XP Pro. XP Home doesn't support dynamic disks.

 

[Alex Moreau]

Also...forgot to mention that it also depends on the type
of "dynamic disk" that exists.

Thanks. Can you suggest any primers that spell out the basics...i.e., a
brief explanation of the mechanics and under what circumstances one might
use them?

Thanks again!