Acronis Disk Director 11 Advanced Workstation - User Guide - Manual (Page 57)

57 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2010
To perform the pending operation you will have to commit it (p. 24). Exiting the program without
committing the pending operations will effectively cancel them.
7.5 Disk conversion: basic to dynamic
You would want to convert a basic disk to dynamic in the following cases:
 If you plan to use the disk as part of a dynamic disk group
 If you want to achieve additional disk reliability for data storage.
To convert a basic disk to dynamic
1. Right-click the basic disk you want to convert, and then click Convert to dynamic. You will receive
a final warning about the basic disk being converted to dynamic.
2. Click OK to add the pending basic to dynamic disk conversion operation.
Note: A dynamic disk uses the last megabyte of the physical disk to store the database, including the four-level
description (Volume-Component-Partition-Disk) for each dynamic volume. If during the conversion to dynamic it
turns out that the basic disk is full and the size of its volumes cannot be decreased automatically, the basic disk
to dynamic conversion operation will fail.
The results of the pending operation are immediately displayed as if the operation had been
performed.
To perform the pending operation you will have to commit it (p. 24). Exiting the program without
committing the pending operations will effectively cancel them.
Should you decide to revert your dynamic disks back to basic ones—for example, if you want to start
using an operating system on your machine that does not support dynamic disks—you can convert
your disks using the same menu items, though the operation now will be named Convert to basic.
System disk conversion
The program does not require an operating system reboot after conversion of a basic disk that
contains one or more boot volumes to dynamic if:
1. There is a single Windows Vista, or Windows 7 operating system installed on the disk.
2. The machine runs this operating system.
Caution: The conversion of a disk containing boot volumes takes a certain amount of time. Any power loss,
unintentional turning off of the machine or accidental pressing of the Reset button during the procedure could
result in bootability loss.
For machines where more than one operating system is installed, the program ensures bootability of
each of the operating systems.
7.6 Disk conversion: dynamic to basic
You would want to convert dynamic disks back to basic ones if, for example, you want to start using
an operating system your machine that does not support dynamic disks.
This operation is available only for a dynamic disk that is empty or contains only one or more simple volumes,
with each simple volume occupying a single region on the disk. These volumes will become basic volumes.