Fixed: Foreign Dynamic Disk in Windows PC and Server

Case study - foreign dynamic disk

I have Windows XP Pro with 80GB seagte hard drive. I have installed a new second hard drive, which had data from my old second hard drive written to it on another PC. The hard drive is seen in the BIOS and in Hardware Devices, where is said to be working properly, but it is not in explorer. I looked it in My Computer/Manage/Disk Management and the disk is there but is shown as Dynamic Foreign. I right click on it and get two usable options: Convert to Basic Disk and Import Foreign Disks. Which option is better?

Why disk shows as dynamic foreign?

What is a dynamic foreign disk? When the status is Foreign of a dynamic disk, then it is a dynamic foreign disk. However, why is the dynamic disk marked as foreign? There are two main reasons you can refer to:

Reason 1: The dynamic disk comes from another computer installing Windows 2000, Windows XP 64-bit Edition (Itanium), Windows XP Professional or Windows Server 2003 family Operating System.

Reason 2: Computers are configured to dual-boot with Windows XP Home Edition and another Operating system (such as Windows 2000 Professional or Windows XP Professional) that uses dynamic disks, which are not supported on Windows XP Home Edition or on portable computers.

How to fix a foreign dynamic disk?

As the case study mentioned, there are two ways to repair the problem with built-in Disk Management.

Solution 1: Import the foreign disk

To access data on the disk, you must add the disk to your computer's system configuration. In Disk Management, right click the foreign disk and select "Import Foreign Disks". After that, any existing volumes on the foreign disk become visible and accessible.

Right-click the foreign dynamic disk and select “Import Foreign Disk”and follow the instruction to finish the operation.

Solution 2: Convert foreign dynamic disk to basic disk

Because Windows XP Home Edition and portable computer cannot support dynamic disk, thuse you must convert dynamic disk to basic. If you convert it to basic disk in Disk Management, you need to delete all dynamic volumes first since Disk Management can only convert an empty dynamic disk to basic one. Otherwise, the option will be unclickable.

To convert dynamic disk to basic disk without losing volumes or data, you can use the AOMEI Partition Assistant Server. Its “Dynamic Disk Converter”can directly convert a dynamic disk to a basic one. Download the demo version and have a try now.

Step 1. Install and lanch AOMEI Partition Assistant Server, click “Convert” in the top toolbar, and choose “Dynamic Disk Converter”.

Step 2. Click “Next” on the Welcome screen.

Step 3. Choose a proper method from the given options. Here we select the first one.

Step 4. Select the foreign dynamic disk and click “Next”.

Step 5. When it is done, click “OK”to restart your computer.

So, to fix foreign dynamic disk, you can import it or convert it to a basic disk. Choose which method you required most.