Basic Storage Versus Dynamic Storage in Windows XP

Skip Navigation

Sign in

Support

Find it myself

Select the product you need help with

Ask the community

Get live help

Windows

Internet
Explorer

Office

Surface

Xbox

Skype

Windows
Phone

Basic Storage Versus Dynamic Storage in

Windows XP

More products

Print
Email

Article translations

Support for Windows XP has ended on April 8, 2014

Microsoft has ended support for Windows XP on April 8, 2014. This change will affect your
software updates and security options.
Learn what this means for you and how to stay protected.

Article ID: 314343 - View products that this article applies to.

System Tip
This article applies to a different version of Windows than the one you are using. Content in this article may not be relevant to
you.
Visit the Windows 7 Solution Center

This article was previously published under Q314343

Expand all | Collapse all

On This Page
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314343[26/08/2014 7:59:04 p.m.]

Basic Storage Versus Dynamic Storage in Windows XP

SUMMARY
Microsoft Windows XP offers two types of disk storage: basic and dynamic.

Basic Disk Storage

Basic storage uses normal partition tables supported by MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft
Windows Millennium Edition (Me), Microsoft Windows NT, Microsoft Windows 2000, and Windows XP. A disk initialized for
basic storage is called a basic disk. A basic disk contains basic volumes, such as primary partitions, extended partitions, and
logical drives.
Additionally, basic volumes include multidisk volumes that are created by using Windows NT 4.0 or earlier, such as volume
sets, stripe sets, mirror sets, and stripe sets with parity. Windows XP does not support these multidisk basic volumes. Any
volume sets, stripe sets, mirror sets, or stripe sets with parity must be backed up and deleted or converted to dynamic disks
before you install Windows XP Professional.

Dynamic Disk Storage

Dynamic storage is supported in Windows 2000 and Windows XP Professional. A disk initialized for dynamic storage is called a
dynamic disk. A dynamic disk contains dynamic volumes, such as simple volumes, spanned volumes, striped volumes, mirrored
volumes, and RAID-5 volumes.
NOTE: Dynamic disks are not supported on portable computers or on Windows XP Home Edition-based computers.
You cannot create mirrored volumes or RAID-5 volumes on Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Professional, or Windows
XP 64-Bit Edition-based computers. However, you can use a Windows XP Professional-based computer to create a mirrored or
RAID-5 volume on remote computers that are running Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2000 Advanced Server, or Windows
2000 Datacenter Server. You must have administrative privileges on the remote computer to do this.
Storage types are separate from the file system type. A basic or dynamic disk can contain any combination of FAT16, FAT32, or
NTFS partitions or volumes.
A disk system can contain any combination of storage types. However, all volumes on the same disk must use the same
storage type.

Convert a Basic Disk to a Dynamic Disk

Use the Disk Management snap-in in Windows XP to convert a basic disk to a dynamic disk. To do this, follow these steps:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Log on as Administrator or as a member of the Administrators group.

Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
Click Performance and Maintenance, click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management.
In the left pane, click Disk Management.
In the lower-right pane, right-click the basic disk that you want to convert, and then click Convert to Dynamic Disk.

6.
7.
8.
9.

NOTE:You must right-click the gray area that contains the disk title on the left side of the Details pane. For example,
right-click Disk 0.
Select the check box that is next to the disk that you want to convert (if it is not already selected), and then click OK.
Click Details if you want to view the list of volumes in the disk.
Click Convert.
Click Yes when you are prompted to convert the disk, and then click OK.

WARNING: After you convert a basic disk to a dynamic disk, local access to the dynamic disk is limited to Windows 2000 and
Windows XP Professional. Additionally, after you convert a basic disk to a dynamic disk, the dynamic volumes cannot be
changed back to partitions. You must first delete all dynamic volumes on the disk and then convert the dynamic disk back to a
basic disk. If you want to keep your data, you must first back up the data or move it to another volume.
Back to the top | Give Feedback

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314343[26/08/2014 7:59:04 p.m.]

Basic Storage Versus Dynamic Storage in Windows XP

MORE INFORMATION
Dynamic Storage Terms:
A volume is a storage unit made from free space on one or more disks. It can be formatted with a file system and
assigned a drive letter. Volumes on dynamic disks can have any of the following layouts: simple, spanned, mirrored,
striped, or RAID-5.
A simple volume uses free space from a single disk. It can be a single region on a disk or consist of multiple,
concatenated regions. A simple volume can be extended within the same disk or onto additional disks. If a simple
volume is extended across multiple disks, it becomes a spanned volume.
A spanned volume is created from free disk space that is linked together from multiple disks. You can extend a spanned
volume onto a maximum of 32 disks. A spanned volume cannot be mirrored and is not fault-tolerant.
A striped volume is a volume whose data is interleaved across two or more physical disks. The data on this type of
volume is allocated alternately and evenly to each of the physical disks. A striped volume cannot be mirrored or
extended and is not fault-tolerant. Striping is also known as RAID-0.
A mirrored volume is a fault-tolerant volume whose data is duplicated on two physical disks. All of the data on one
volume is copied to another disk to provide data redundancy. If one of the disks fails, the data can still be accessed
from the remaining disk. A mirrored volume cannot be extended. Mirroring is also known as RAID-1.
A RAID-5 volume is a fault-tolerant volume whose data is striped across an array of three or more disks. Parity (a
calculated value that can be used to reconstruct data after a failure) is also striped across the disk array. If a physical
disk fails, the portion of the RAID-5 volume that was on that failed disk can be re-created from the remaining data and
the parity. A RAID-5 volume cannot be mirrored or extended.
The system volume contains the hardware-specific files that are needed to load Windows (for example, Ntldr, Boot.ini,
and Ntdetect.com). The system volume can be, but does not have to be, the same as the boot volume.
The boot volume contains the Windows operating system files that are located in the %Systemroot% and
%Systemroot%\System32 folders. The boot volume can be, but does not have to be, the same as the system volume.
For additional information about how to convert basic and dynamic disks, click the article number below to view the article in
the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
309044 HOW TO: Convert to Basic and Dynamic Disks in Windows XP Professional
For additional information about how to configure basic disks, click the following article number to view the article in the
Microsoft Knowledge Base:
309000 HOW TO: Use Disk Management to Configure Basic Disks
For additional information about how to configure dynamic disks, click the following article number to view the article in the
Microsoft Knowledge Base:
308424 HOW TO: Use Disk Management to Configure Dynamic Disks
For additional information about how to create a mirrored volume, click the following article number to view the article in the
Microsoft Knowledge Base:
307880 How to create a mirrored volume on a remote Windows 2000-based computer in Windows XP-based computer
For additional information about how to create a RAID-5 volume, click the following article number to view the article in the
Microsoft Knowledge Base:
309043 HOW TO: Create a RAID-5 Volume
Back to the top | Give Feedback

Properties
Article ID: 314343 - Last Review: December 1, 2007 - Revision: 3.3
APPLIES TO
Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
Microsoft Windows XP Professional

Keywords: kbenv kbinfo kbsetup KB314343

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314343[26/08/2014 7:59:04 p.m.]

Basic Storage Versus Dynamic Storage in Windows XP

Back to the top | Give Feedback

Give Feedback
Was this information helpful?
Yes
No
Somewhat

How much effort did you personally put forth to use this article?
Very low
Low
Moderate
High
Very high

Tell us what we can do to improve this article

Submit

Back to the top

More Microsoft sites

Windows
Office

Downloads

Support

Popular resources

Download center

Knowledge Base search

Microsoft Fix It downloads

Windows downloads

Product list

Twitter - Microsoft Helps

Office downloads

Product support lifecycle

Windows keyboard shortcuts

Windows Installer error: service could not
be accessed

Service Pack downloads

Small and medium business support

Surface

Direct X download

IT Pro support

Windows Phone

Privacy
Privacy feedback

Nokia devices
Xbox

About
Microsoft
Career

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314343[26/08/2014 7:59:04 p.m.]

Developer support

Security
Virus and Security solution center
Security home page
Microsoft Update
Download Security Essentials

Windows Installer cleanup utility download

How to: Windows XP system restore
Windows update error message or is not
working
Microsoft Security Essentials manual
update download

Basic Storage Versus Dynamic Storage in Windows XP

Skype
Bing

Company news

Malware Removal tool

Site map

Microsoft Store

New Zealand
Services Agreement

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314343[26/08/2014 7:59:04 p.m.]

Contact Us

Terms of Use

Trademarks

Privacy & Cookies

2014 Microsoft