Install failed on dynamic harddisk

[Alan T]

I have second hardisk formatted inside XP as dynamic disk type.
Now I swap the 2 disks, ie. second harddisk as primary disk and reboot the
machine with Vista DVD.
At the early stage Vista said this is a dynamic disk cannot be installed.
How do I make it non-dynamic in side XP?

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi Alan,

You have to wipe the disk and repartition it, there's no easy way. Data
currently on the drive will be lost, so back it up to removable media before
doing anything else.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

 

[Don]

Hi Alan,

You have to wipe the disk and repartition it, there's no easy way. Data
currently on the drive will be lost, so back it up to removable media
before doing anything else.

The 'diskpart' command-line utility claims to convert back and forth
between dynamic and basic disks. I've never used it, so I can't say
if it destroys the data on the disk or not. Anyone know?

 

[John Barnes]

Since he wants to install Vista on it, it would not seem to matter if the
data were destroyed, however, it does not seem that it is. Caution advised
if I misunderstand this. He can access the command prompt on the Vista DVD
with shift/f10

 

[Alan T]

What I did in XP is
Control Panel -> Administrative Tools ->
Computer Management - > Disk Management

Right click the second disk to select Format...

It has to by dynamic, not other option.

Can I reformat/delete the partition when I start to install Vista?

 

[John Barnes]

I don't know as those two commands are partition level. Just curious, the
format option only shows when you right click on the partition, the convert
to basic disk shows when you right click on the drive itself at the far left
of the line. I am in Vista so I don't know for sure that XP has the same
options. As mentioned earlier, diskpart does have the option.

 

[andy]

What I did in XP is
Control Panel -> Administrative Tools ->
Computer Management - > Disk Management

Right click the second disk to select Format...

It has to by dynamic, not other option.

What does this mean?

If you want to convert the disk back to basic, right click in the box
that identifies the disk as dynamic. There should be a context menu,
Revert to Basic. Select it.

 

[Alan T]

Yes, that's correct.
Thanks