3 Ways to Convert Dynamic Disk to Basic Without Data Loss (Free/Paid)
In this post, you are going to learn three ways to convert dynamic disk to basic. The first method promises a safe conversion. You can convert dynamic to basic without losing data. But you need to pay for the easy-to-use software. The second and third methods are free. But you need to take the risk of data loss. Here are the details on how to run dynamic disk converters.
Tip 1. Convert Dynamic Disk to Basic Disk Without Losing Data
If you want to convert dynamic disk to basic without data loss, you need to download Qiling Partition Master. This partition manager provides the feature to convert dynamic disk to basic disk, including simple volume and mirrored volume. Besides, it has many highlights.
Follow the steps below to convert a dynamic disk to a basic disk without losing data.
Step 1. Install and open Qiling Partition Master on your Windows computer.
Step 2. Select the disk that you want to convert, tight-click it and choose the conversion option:
- Basic to Dynamic: click a basic disk and select "Convert to Dynamic".
- Dynamic to Basic: click a dynamic disk and select "Convert to Basic".
Step 3. Click "OK" on the pop-up notice window and the program begin to convert the basic disk to dynamic or dynamic to basic.
Tip 2. Convert Dynamic Disk to Basic Disk with Disk Management (Free)
Windows Disk Management has a lot of limitations. If you want to convert dynamic disk to basic disk, you have to delete all volumes on dynamic disk first. Therefore, Windows Disk Management is not a wise choice to convert dynamic disk to basic disk without data loss.
Note: Make sure you back up all the data you want to keep before proceeding.
If you only want to convert dynamic disk to basic with a free tool, you can try this method.
Step 1. In Disk Management, select and hold (or right-click) each volume on the dynamic disk you want to convert to a basic disk, and then click "Delete Volume".
Step 2. When all volumes on the disk have been deleted, right-click the disk, and then click "Convert to Basic Disk".
On some new operating systems, the disk will automatically turn into a Basic disk after deleting all volumes on the dynamic disk.
If your disk has mirrored volumes, you can follow these steps.
Step 1. Right-click "My Computer/This PC" and choose "Manage" -> "Storage" -> "Disk Management".
Step 2. Right-click the mirrored volumes and choose "Break Mirrored Volume" or choose "Remove Mirror" to remove the mirror.
After choosing "Break Mirrored Volume" or "Remove Mirror", the mirrored volumes will become simple volumes. Then, you can delete them and convert dynamic disk to basic disk by repeating delete all volumes on the disk.
Tip 3. Convert Dynamic Disk to Basic Disk With CMD (Free)
This method is free too. You need to be familiar with Command Prompt commands. This method is more difficult than Tip 2. Besides, you may also lose data when you are converting the disk to basic with this method.
Step 1. Type cmd in the Search box and right-click Command Prompt, select "Run as Administrator".
Step 2. Type diskpart and hit Enter to bring up DiskPart.
Step 3. Type the following command and hit Enter each time:
- list disk
- select disk 1 (Replace 1 with the disk number of your dynamic disk)
- detail disk
- select volume 2 (Replace 2 with the volume number that you want to delete)
- delete volume 2
Step 4. When you finish deleting all the volumes, type the following command and hit Enter each time:
- select disk 1 (Replace 1 with the disk number of your dynamic disk)
- convert basic
Conclusion
You have learned about three ways to convert dynamic disk to basic disk. You can also convert basic disk to dynamic disk with simple steps. Qiling disk management tool makes file system conversion (FAT32 to NTFS or NTFS to FAT32), and disk management easy and fast.
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