Windows 10: Converting main boot drive from a dynamic drive to a basic drive

I accidentally converted my main drive to a dynamic drive. Everything i have read says to just delete it and reformat the drive, but i cant do this as i have all my data and the operating system on this drive. I have tried software which claims to be able to convert Dynamic drives to basic drives for free but all ask for money by the end.

:)

 

How to convert Windows drive from Dynamic to Basic?

Hi Etor. I'm Greg, an installation specialist and 9 year Windows MVP, here to help you.

You must have somehow set the hard drive to Dynamic which is meant to span a partition over several hard drives. This can happen if you try to create more than four Primary Partitions on an MBR format hard drive, and ignore the warning in Disk Mgmt that
it will convert to Dynamic.

There is a method here to convert a Dynamic Disk to Basic non-destructively here: Convert a Dynamic Disk to a Basic Disk - Windows 7 Help Forums

You should also still be able to access the data while the drive is connected as a data drive and you're not trying to start Windows on it. Then you could copy the data off and wipe the drive to clear the Dynamic formatting.

 

EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE - ADDING UNALLOCATED SPACE MAKES DYNAMIC DRIVE, ALL MUST REMAIN BASIC DRIVES - WINDOWS 10

Hi Maxine,

The reason why your disk is converted to Dynamic is because the space that you're using to expand are not yet formatted. To convert the Dynamic disk to Basic disk, follow these steps:

Disclaimer: We recommend that you back up the drive that you will convert to prevent any loss of information. Never convert the drive that contains your Operating System.

• Right-click Windows and select Disk Management.
• Right-click the volume that you wish to convert.
• Select Delete Volume.
• Once you're done, right-click the disk and select Convert to Basic Drive.
• Wait for the operation to complete. Click OK if prompted.

Feel free to post back if you encounter any challenges along the process.

 

How to convert Windows drive from Dynamic to Basic?

Hello Greg please I need your help. I have an issue with my drive. My computer is not able to boot to desktop so I placed a new hard drive in it and install a new OS after installtion when i tried opening the drive from disk management I am told I have to
convert my drive to basic and I will lose all my files. Please I want to know after I have converted the drive can I recover my files with any recovery software or is there any other way to solve this problem? Thanks