I have a Maxtor 250GB HDD. I once accidently converted my HDD to a dynamic one. But now i want to convert it back to a basic disk so that i can format my HDD and reinstall windows.(windows wont install to dynamic disks) How can i convert it back to a dynamic disk???
No idea what Windows version you use, but on Win 7: Control Panel/Computer Management/Disk Management Select the disk... delete the volume, then just create a new volume of the correct type, and format it.
I have win 7. I did what you said for the D and E drives. but i cant do that for the C drive on which my OS is there. The delete volume option is unavailable.
when i right click on the disk (disk 0) i see the option to convert to basic disk. But that option is not available (not highlighted) What can i do?
The computerm management tool in Windows won't allow you to format the boot partition - Windows would crash during the format. The same computer management is the same in XP/Vista/7. Just found this from the Microsoft Knowledgebase - dynamic disks are OK for the listed versions of Vista and 7 (Pro/Business/Enterprise/Ultimate). You best bet is to boot from the Windows DVD and try formatting from within the Windows installer (both XP and 7 allowed me to format drives prior to installation 2 weeks back when I got my dual-boot system setup). From the previous KB article I've linked to it looks like that may not work - the final suggestion is to try Diskpart.exe from the DVD though I guess that it requires a working Windows install. Otherwise try Xlog's suggestion - looks like that would do the job.
