Windows 2000 and Basic vs Dynamic partitions

[stickyb]

I have a Windows 2000 system on which the C: drive (system and boot) has become uncomfortably full. There is actually plenty of space on the physical disc, just that C: is too small.

Problem is that I can't change the size of C: as windows has the restrictoin that volumes originally created on a basic disk and then upgraded to dynamic discs cannot be extended. According to M'soft the only way to go back to a basic disk is to back up all the files, delete all the partitions, then convert and restore. Great for the C: drive!

Norton partition magic 8 does not understand dynamic discs, so that is no help either.

Any suggestions?

[Saab Dastard]

You CAN actually revert to a Basic disk from a Dynamic disk. The process is not for the faint-hearted, though.

Have a look here (http://thelazyadmin.com/index.php?/archives/161-Converting-Dynamic-Disks-Back-to-Basic-Disks.html) and here (http://faq.arstechnica.com/link.php?i=1806).

The way I see it, you would have to back up all your data anyway, so when you have done that give the above a go - what have you got to lose? The worst that happens is that you have to reformat the sisk and install from scratch.

A Dynamic disk is actually a partition spanning the entire disk, which is then subdivided into the logical volumes that can be combined to span multiple disks or create software RAID. This is why a partitioning tool won't work.

If you do a Google search for dynamic partition you can find more information than you ever wanted!

Good luck!

SD

[Saab Dastard]

I forgot to add, the best way to mitigate the pain of re-installing would be to use Ghost (or other drive imaging software) to clone the existing C: drive.

Then repartition the disk, and restore the clone, ensuring that you set it to use all available space.

But don't rely on this as your sole backup.

SD