Solved: Unable to Convert Dynamic Disk to Basic in Windows 7/8/10

Unable to convert dynamic disk to basic?

"I have a 3TB drive, and I have converted this HDD into a dynamic disk a few months ago. Now I plan to convert it from dynamic to basic disk. However, I found the Disk Management cannot convert dynamic disk to basic. Why and is there any way to do this converting without losing my important data on it?"

Why failed to convert dynamic disk to basic in Windows 7/8/10/11?

According to Microsoft, to convert a dynamic disk back to a basic disk, you have to delete all volumes from the disk, which will erase all the data on the disk. Thus, you have to back up these data before conversion. If the aim dynamic disk contains volumes, you will be unable to convert the dynamic disk to back basic disk.

Solve it by deleting dynamic volumes before conversion

As mentioned above, the Windows only allows you to convert an empty dynamic disk to basic disk. So, you need to delete all volumes before conversion. Here are the steps you can refer to:

1. Backup all the data on your dynamic disk.

2. Input diskmgmt.msc into the search box on the desktop, and hit enter.

3. Right click the dynamic disk that you want to convert to basic in Disk Management, and choose Delete Volume, until there is no volume on that disk.

4. Right click the dynamic disk and select Convert to Basic Disk.

Or you can use DiskPart.exe tool, which can also help you convert a dynamic disk without any volumes to a basic one. The expatiation is listed as follows:

1. Backup all the information on the dynamic disk that you want to change it to basic.

2. Enter cmd in search box, run as administrator.

3. Type the following commands to convert, each command followed by enter key.

• diskpart

• list disk

• select disk #

• list volume

• select volume #, and type delete volume for each volume on the disk.

• delete volume

• select disk #

• convert basic

Convert dynamic disk to basic disk without deleting volumes

Except for the above 2 solutions, we bring the best solution: applying a professional dynamic disk management software – AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. This software allows you to convert dynamic disk back to basic without deleting any inside volumes in Windows 11/10/8.1/8, XP, Vista. In case of data loss caused by improper operations, backup is always advised.

1. Open the software, click “Dynamic Disk Manager” in the right menu.

2. Right click the target dynamic disk and choose Convert to Basic Disk at the drop down menu.

3. Click OK at the next window.

4. Press Commit at the toolbar at the top of window.

5. Then click Proceed to convert dynamic disk to basic without losing data.

After a few seconds, the conversion will be completed and requires a reboot. The "unable to convert dynamic disk to basic" problem should be resolved. After that, you are allowed to create partitions and logical drives on the basic disk. In addition, the operation of changing basic to dynamic disk will keep your data intact. Other operations including resize dynamic disk or volume without losing data, extend system volume, move volume slice, shrink, create, delete, format dynamic volume, etc.