NEED HELP with dynamic disks SOLVED :D
I just bought TI Home 2012 & the addon pack thinking I could then clone a dynamic disk (FAIL)
Firstly, let me say "I DO NOT want to do a format & fresh install of Windows 7".
Anyway, I have a 1TB HDD with four partitions that when I first installed Windows 7 it made it a dynamic disk.
I have another 1TB HDD that I'd like to use to replace the dynamic one.
Is there anyway I can get all the data off the dynamic disk & put it on the basic disk so that it boots normally?
I know I can backup my data, then format the harddrive, do a fresh install of Windows, but then I have to install all my software again. This would be a momentous task for me as I use my system for work, music & gaming. Too many programs & plugins to re-install :(
Is it possible do clone/image it all to a new basic disk that will boot normally?
**EDIT After some EXTREMELY anxious playing around I've managed to solve it.
Firstly, I did a full backup with TI Home 2012 incase I destroyed my system :)
I had to borrow a Acronis Disk Director Boot disk as the Trial wouldn't allow me to do anything.
From a CD boot I used Disk Director 11 to convert the dynamic drive to basic, had a VERY anxious wait while the LDM was converted to MBR.
Reboot & all seems fine :D :D :D
This is such a relief!! It's going to be an anxious next few weeks as I've heard converting a disk to basic can cause some corruption?
I'll error all my drives & defrag them & if all good, I'll run another full backup :)
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Andrew,
If you clone the destination disk it should be exactly the same format as the source disk.
Are you positive that you have a dynamic disk as it is unusual for Windows to default to dynamic rather than basic?
What you should be able to do is either clone or image/restore to the other disk and then convert it back to basic. It is possible to convert dynamic to basic, just a little involved.
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Yes, unfortunately it is defiantly a dynamic disk with simple/spans.
TI Home 2012 won't let me clone it due to it being a dynamic disk.
At the moment, I am doing a drive backup & then I was going to attempt to use Acronis Disk Director 11 Home (TRIAL) to convert it back to a basic drive, but I'm really worried it won't boot after that as I'm not sure what will happen to the MBR & the system reserve partition?
If I wreck my primary drive, hopefully my backup will atleast have my data for a fresh install??
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Andrew,
I**Edit***
My reply has been covered by your edit toyour first post.
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