Dynamic Disks??

[John A. Smith]

There is an article in PCMag this month extolling the virtues of dynamic
Disks. Are they advantagous?? Also what happens to the programs and data you
have when you change a basic disk to a dynamic disk?? Is there any problem
in changing the disks and losing data?? I have two hard drives that each
have three partitions. Is this a problem??

Thanks

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

You should only consider converting to dynamic disks if
you have a RAID configuration. Otherwise, leave your
disks as they are.

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User
Microsoft Newsgroups

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:

| There is an article in PCMag this month extolling the virtues of dynamic
| Disks. Are they advantagous?? Also what happens to the programs and data you
| have when you change a basic disk to a dynamic disk?? Is there any problem
| in changing the disks and losing data?? I have two hard drives that each
| have three partitions. Is this a problem??
|
| Thanks

 

[Guest]

Try search at microsoft,type:307889 The article will explain dynamic
disk,also,
only xp pro can covert to dynamic,home cannot...

 

[Gerry Hickman]

Hi,

In general this is only for machines with multiple physical drives or
multiple RAID arrays, and it's ONLY for data. It's not for programs or
operating systems.

In theory, you can "expand" a dynamic disk by adding more physical
drives to your RAID array, but very few people seem to have ever made it
work, and I don't think Windows supports it native, so you'd need to
reboot to see the new space.

As a rule, dynamic disks are only for guys who know what they're doing,
and know what to do if it all goes wrong. I currently use a dynamic
volume for my organization's data which is stored on a RAID 10 volume.

 

[John A. Smith]

Thanks to all who answered. I do run Windows XP Pro and have for four years.
I was just
wondering if the article in PC Mag was for the general public, but after
your responses
feel like I did originally that it was only for networks and special
circumstances.

 

[Phillips]

Check this one too:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/175761/EN-US/

It seems there's no need for dynamic volumes for the average home user.
Michael