I need to convert the disk containing my operating system to a dynamic disk (from a basic disk). Unfortunately there is no room on the disk to convert the drive from basic to dynamic.
Microsoft documents the problem, and notes the solution is to delete the last partition on the disk:
Not Enough Space Available to Upgrade to a Dynamic Disk
RESOLUTION
Start Disk Manager, right-click the last partition, and then click Delete Partition.
Note: I don't need a reason to ask my question. But if anyone would refuse to answer the question unless i gave a justification, there one is.
It's important to note that:
Bonus Question: Why did Windows 7 create a "Recovery Partition"?
Bonus Question: How do you create, or re-create, a "Recovery Partition" on a hard drive that does not have one?
Fortunately i don't have to back anything up from this Recovery Partition, since Windows says it is empty:
Except the directions on Microsoft support don't work - there is no option to delete the recovery partition:
From Create a USB recovery drive, which is used to create a USB recovery drive, there is supposed to be an option at the end of the wizard to delete the recovery partition on the hard drive:
When the process is done, do one of the following:
- If you want to keep the recovery partition on your PC, tap or click Finish.
If you want to remove the recovery partition from your PC and free up disk space, tap or click Delete the recovery partition. Then tap or click Delete. This will free up the disk space used to store your recovery image. When the removal is done, tap or click Finish.
Note
Some PCs don't offer the option to remove a recovery partition. If you experience this, there isn't a recovery partition on your PC that's using additional disc space.
When i complete the wizard, there isn't offered the option to remove a recovery partition:
Which apparently means that my machine doesn't have a Recovery Partition, yet i refer you to:
Which causes the questions:
The problem i'm actually trying to solve is how do i convert the disk to dynamic (without reinstalling Windows of course).
I tried using DiskPart from an elevated command prompt:
>diskpart
DISKPART> select disk 0
DISKPART> select partition 3
DISKPART> delete partition
Virtual Disk Service error:
Cannot delete a protected partition without the force protected parameter set.
There is plenty of space on the disk. You are getting this error for a different reason. If your machine is anything but a desktop then you would get the error you have.
https://technet.microsoft.com/library/354e5163-f388-4354-984c-ea4e4206694c
You aren't able to delete the recovery partition because it EFI protected. You should be able to force by using the override
command.
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc766465(v=ws.10).aspx
I would try using diskpart (from an elevated command prompt) to delete the partition and convert to dynamic disk.
DISKPART> list disk
DISKPART> select disk 4
Disk 4 is now the selected disk.
DISKPART> list partition
Partition ### Type Size Offset
------------- ---------------- ------- -------
Partition 1 Primary 223 GB 1024 KB
Partition 3 Recovery 450 MB 223 GB
DISKPART> select partition 3
Partition 3 is now the selected partition.
DISKPART> delete partition override
DiskPart successfully deleted the selected partition.
DISKPART> list partition
Partition ### Type Size Offset
------------- ---------------- ------- -------
Partition 1 Primary 223 GB 1024 KB
Usually I re-purpose drives so I don't worry about data loss but back up your data and use a desktop.
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