Converting a Disk from Basic to Dynamic
The Windows Server 2003 Disk Management console (an MMC snap-in) can be used to convert a basic disk to a dynamic disk. To access Disk Management, click Start > Administrative Tools > Computer Management or right-click the My Computer icon on the Start menu and click Manage.
You must be a member of the local Administrators group or the Backup Operators group, or else the have proper authority delegated to you if you are working to make any changes to the computer's disk-management configuration within an Active Directory environment.
Any disks to be converted must contain at least 1MB of unallocated space. Disk Management automatically reserves this space when creating partitions or volumes on a disk, but disks with partitions or volumes created by other operating systems or third-party utilities might not have this space available.
Windows Server 2003 needs this disk space to store the dynamic database, which is maintained by the operating system that created it. Before converting any disks, close any programs that are running on them. After converting a disk to dynamic, remember that you can only have one bootable operating system on each dynamic disk.
You can convert a basic disk to a dynamic disk from the Disk Management console as follows:
- Open the Disk Management console.
- Right-click the basic disk you that want to convert to a dynamic disk and then click Convert to Dynamic Disk
If you convert an empty basic disk to a dynamic disk, you do not need to reboot. However, if you convert a basic disk that already has partitions on it, or if the basic disk contains the system or boot partitions, you must reboot.
