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Change a Dynamic Disk Back to a Basic Disk

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista

Basic disks support only primary partitions, extended partitions, and logical drives. Basic disks have been supported in operating systems since MS-DOS, while dynamic disks have been supported in operating systems since Windows 2000.

Backup Operators or Administrator is the minimum membership required.

Note

The decision to convert a dynamic disk to a basic disk has implications that should be considered carefully. For more information about basic and dynamic disks and how to choose which type to use, see https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=64133.

Note

Before you convert disks, close any programs that are running on those disks.

Changing a dynamic disk back to a basic disk

  • Using the Windows interface

  • Using a command line

To change a dynamic disk back to a basic disk using the Windows interface

  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.

  3. When all volumes on the disk have been deleted, right-click the disk, and then click Convert to Basic Disk.

Additional considerations

  • The disk must not have any volumes nor contain any data before you can change it back to a basic disk. If you want to keep your data, back it up or move it to another volume before you convert the disk to a basic disk.

  • Once you change a dynamic disk back to a basic disk, you can create only partitions and logical drives on that disk.

To change a dynamic disk back to a basic disk using a command line

  1. Back up all volumes on the disk you want to convert from dynamic to basic.

  2. Open a command prompt and type diskpart.

  3. At the DISKPART prompt, type list disk. Make note of the disk number you want to convert to basic.

  4. At the DISKPART prompt, type select disk <disknumber>.

  5. At the DISKPART prompt, type detail disk <disknumber>.

  6. For each volume on the disk, at the DISKPART prompt, type select volume= <volumenumber> and then type delete volume.

  7. At the DISKPART prompt, type select disk <disknumber>. Specify the disk number of the disk that you want to convert to a basic disk.

  8. At the DISKPART prompt, type convert basic.

Value Description

list disk

Displays a list of disks and information about them, such as their size, amount of available free space, whether the disk is a basic or dynamic disk, and whether the disk uses the master boot record (MBR) or GUID partition table (GPT) partition style. The disk marked with an asterisk (*) has focus.

select disk disknumber

Selects the specified disk, where disknumber is the disk number, and gives it focus.

detail disk disknumber

Displays the properties of the selected disk and the volumes on that disk.

select volume disknumber

Selects the specified volume, where disknumber is the volume number, and gives it focus. If no volume is specified, the select command lists the current volume with focus. You can specify the volume by number, drive letter, or mount point path. On a basic disk, selecting a volume also gives the corresponding partition focus.

delete volume

Deletes the selected volume. You cannot delete the system volume, boot volume, or any volume that contains the active paging file or crash dump (memory dump).

convert basic

Converts an empty dynamic disk into a basic disk.

Additional considerations

  • The disk must not have any volumes or contain any data before you can change it back to a basic disk. If you want to keep your data, back it up or move it to another volume before you convert the disk to a basic disk.

  • Once you change a dynamic disk back to a basic disk, you can create only partitions and logical drives on that disk.

Additional references