Vista and ext HD probs

[masterswipe]

facts:
-i have a maxtor 80gig hd which i placed into an external enclosure.
-It works fine in xp, but it is dynamic in disk management and i have to
activate it everytime in disk management i connect it
- When i connect it to my vista based laptop computer (dell m1330) it will
read as usb device connected, i can find it on disk management as "dynamic" (
not foreign) but i cannot activate it. The only options it gives when i right
click are: convert to basic disk ( i think its that or "format drive"),
options or help.
It wont let me activate it?
i dont want to do the first option as i will lose lots of data??

help!
cheers

 

[Jane C]

Hi masterswipe,

Which Edition of Vista do you have? Home Editions do not support the use of
dynamic drives.

 

[masterswipe]

i have home premium, if i upgrade to ultimate then the ext hd will work?

thanks!

 

[masterswipe]

i jsut read a thread by "janteby" where he has vista ultimate 64, but it
doesnt read dynamic disks?
if i upgrade to ultimate will it actually work?
cheers

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

You can try installing Ultimate from your dvd by not entering a product key
and choosing Ultimate from the list of Vista editions that appears when you
don't enter a pk. It will install a full edition of Ultimate and then you
can see if that resolves your issue. That way you don't have to buy the
upgrade just to find out. You have 30 days to play with it before deciding.
Remember, however, that if you decide to keep that installation of Ultimate
you must buy a full edition pk to keep from having to do a complete
reinstall. Since you will have to reinstall if you plan on using an upgrade
edition pk, back up your files thoroughly during the 30-day trial to avoid
losing anything.