Forum Discussion
Should I convert to dynamic disk?
Hi all. Decades in IT and I'm ashamed to say, this topic has always eluded me. Back in the NT/2000/2003 days, I briefly touched on the topic of basic vs. dynamic disks (actually I think just 2003, but **bleep** if I can remember). I remember there were too many pitfalls with switching a hard drivec to Dynamic disk, such that I always followed the rule of not ever using that feature.
Ok so fast forward to today, and I'm on a Win 10 Pro box that had been restored from a full image backup. Original SSD was 240 GB, the replacement SSD is a Samsung 500GB SSD (Evo 860 mSata). Disk Management shows about half the space as unallocated. I have no options to do anything with the partitions/volumes, but right-clicking on the Disk 0 item on the left of the middle main pane, has the option to convert to Dynamic Disk, which I assume then will allow volume expansion or whatever else, to join that unallocated space to the C:.
So my question is, is it now a simple process in Win 10, hassle free? If it's one of those "you can do it but if it's a UEFI thingy with GPT or if it's got an OEM partition formatted as FAT32 and you gotta update the firmware on Serial I/O this or that etc. etc. etc.", forget it, not worth screwing around with, but if this is considered in 2020 a hassle free no risk process, please advise. Thanks 🙂
ViProCon Dynamic Disks are deprecated in Windows 10 May 2020 Update. However, it will be replaced by Storage Spaces in the near future.
6 Replies
ViProCon A dynamic disk is a type of disk storage in the Windows operating system that allows for advanced features and flexibility beyond what is offered by basic disks. Here are some key characteristics and concepts related to dynamic disks:
- Volume Types: Dynamic disks can support multiple types of volumes.
- Disk Management: Dynamic disks can be managed in the Disk Management utility in Windows, allowing users to create, delete, resize, and configure different types of volumes.
- Fault Tolerance: Certain volume types, such as mirrored and RAID-5 volumes, provide fault tolerance, meaning that if one disk fails, data is still accessible from another disk.
Overall, dynamic disks provide enhanced capabilities for managing storage on a Windows system, making them suitable for more complex and demanding storage scenarios. This is why you should convert basic disk to dynamic disk on Windows.
I have also encountered similar situations, especially when you change to a larger hard drive, seeing a bunch of unallocated space is really itchy, but finally used a third-party tool to solve it.
I followed this tutorial: (works for me)
https://www.makeuserof.com/convert-to-dynamic-disk
ViProCon Converting from basic to dynamic is a seamless process. It doesn't matter which file system you are using (using NTFS is highly recommended). To perform this action, you would right-click on the disk drive you want to convert; and select "Convert to Dynamic Disk" from the context menu. However, it is completely useless if you don't need the software RAID features of dynamic disks. You don't necessarily need to convert a disk to a dynamic one in order extend a partition; this can be done on a basic disk, too.
I hope this helps
ViProCon Dynamic Disks are deprecated in Windows 10 May 2020 Update. However, it will be replaced by Storage Spaces in the near future.
If I recall, MS pushed out some recent patches that really messed up Storage Spaces, if memory serves it did something like wipe out entire partitions or what not. I'll give it a long pause before touching that feature with anything critical. But thanks for the insights, that info works for me.
