Create a simple volume

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

To create a simple volume

• Using the Windows interface

• Using a command line

Using the Windows interface

1. Open Computer Management (Local).

2. In the console tree, click Computer Management (Local), click Storage, and then click Disk Management.

3. Right-click the unallocated space on the dynamic disk on which you want to create the simple volume, and then click New Volume.

4. In the New Volume Wizard, click Next, click Simple, and then follow the instructions on your screen.

Notes

• To perform this procedure on a local computer, you must be a member of the Backup Operators group or Administrators group on the local computer, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. To perform this procedure remotely, you must be a member of the Backup Operators group or Administrators group on the remote computer. If the computer is joined to a domain, members of the Domain Admins group might be able to perform this procedure. As a security best practice, consider using Run as to perform this procedure. For more information, see Default local groups, Default groups, and Using Run as.

• To open Computer Management, click Start, click Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management.

• You can create simple volumes on dynamic disks only.

• You can extend a volume only if it does not have a file system or if it is formatted using the NTFS file system. You cannot extend volumes formatted using FAT or FAT32.

• You cannot extend a system volume, boot volume, striped volume, mirrored volume, or RAID-5 volume.

• You can extend simple or extended volumes that are not system or boot volumes, as long as there is available disk space. This includes volumes created as dynamic volumes or created as basic volumes and then converted to dynamic on Windows XP Professional or on Windows Server 2003 operating systems.

• If you upgraded from Windows 2000 to Windows XP Professional or Windows Server 2003 operating systems, you cannot extend a simple or spanned volume that was originally created as a basic volume and converted to a dynamic volume on Windows 2000.

• You can extend a simple volume onto additional dynamic disks to create a spanned volume. Spanned volumes cannot be mirrored.

• If you extend a spanned volume, you cannot delete any portion of it without deleting the entire spanned volume.

• Simple volumes are not fault tolerant.

• Simple volumes can only be accessed by Windows 2000, Windows XP Professional, and Windows Server 2003 operating systems. You should create basic volumes on basic disks if the computer also runs MS-DOS, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows NT 4.0, or Windows XP Home Edition because these operating systems cannot access dynamic volumes.

Using a command line

1. Open Command prompt.

2. Type:

   diskpart

3. At the DISKPART prompt, type:

   list disk

   Make note of the disk number of the disk where you want to create a simple volume.

4. At the DISKPART prompt, type:

   create volume simple [**size=**n] [**disk=**n]

5. At the DISKPART prompt, type:

   assign letter=D

Notes

• To perform this procedure on a local computer, you must be a member of the Backup Operators group, Administrators group, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. If the computer is joined to a domain, members of the Domain Admins group might be able to perform this procedure. As a security best practice, consider using Run as to perform this procedure. For more information, see Default local groups, Default groups, and Using Run as.

• To open a command prompt, click Start, point to All programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command prompt.

• You can create simple volumes on dynamic disks only.

• You can extend a volume only if it does not have a file system or if it is formatted using the NTFS file system. You cannot extend volumes formatted using FAT or FAT32.

• You cannot extend a system volume, boot volume, striped volume, mirrored volume, or RAID-5 volume.

• You can extend simple or extended volumes that are not system or boot volumes, as long as there is available disk space. This includes volumes created as dynamic volumes or created as basic volumes and then converted to dynamic on Windows XP Professional or on Windows Server 2003 operating systems.

• If you upgraded from Windows 2000 to Windows XP Professional or Windows Server 2003 operating systems, you cannot extend a simple or spanned volume that was originally created as a basic volume and converted to a dynamic volume on Windows 2000.

• You can extend a simple volume onto additional dynamic disks to create a spanned volume. Spanned volumes cannot be mirrored.

• If you extend a spanned volume, you cannot delete any portion of it without deleting the entire spanned volume.

• Simple volumes are not fault tolerant.

• Simple volumes can only be accessed by Windows 2000, Windows XP Professional, and Windows Server 2003 operating systems. You should create basic volumes on basic disks if the computer also runs MS-DOS, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows NT 4.0, or Windows XP Home Edition because these operating systems cannot access dynamic volumes.

• For more information about DiskPart, see Related Topics.

Information about functional differences

• Your server might function differently based on the version and edition of the operating system that is installed, your account permissions, and your menu settings. For more information, see Viewing Help on the Web.

See Also

Concepts

Using simple volumes
Extend a simple or spanned volume
Add a mirror to an existing simple volume
Create a mounted drive
Format a dynamic volume
Assign, change, or remove a drive letter
Delete a dynamic volume
Working with MMC console files
DiskPart