Solved Can't perform a system recovery

[Marquis]

I was trying to create a partition and wasn't paying attention... when I created the partition a popup told me that it would make the disk dynamic and I clicked yes. Now I can't perform a system recovery, and I'm not sure where to go from here. Anything I can do?

 

[allend66]

Hi Marquis, and welcome to the forums..

Did you create the partition in Win7 or use a 3rd party program?
Many people here recommend partition magic (free version - google it).
Your system specs are a little thin, more info would be helpful!..

 

[Marquis]

I just did it through Windows. I'm running a 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium HP-G62.

Someone on another site said I'd be able to create a backup of my current system, delete the partitions on the drive to revert it to basic, then restore the backup. Would this fix my issue? And if so, how would I go about doing this?

 

[seth500]

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/26829-convert-dynamic-disk-basic-disk.html

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

There is a non-destructive option using an older version of Partition Wizard, in the newer versions this is a paid-for feature; download the pw422 zip file from this link below, burn the Partition Wizard ISO file to CD to convert the HDD back to a Basic disk.

Partition Wizard v4.2.2 Free Boot CD Zip File

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The Partition Wizard boot CD requires no input from the user to startup, just boot the disk and let it load; here's the steps once Partition Wizard v4.2.2 boots / opens and be sure to post back with any further questions you may have and to keep us informed.

click to enlarge

 

[Marquis]

Hello Marquis, welcome to Seven Forums!


There is a non-destructive option using Partition Wizard, download the pw422 zip file from this link below, burn the Partition Wizard ISO file to CD and then boot the CD to convert the HDD back to a Basic disk; if you have further questions on how best to do this, post back here and someone will help you.

https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=b0a22789320e3247&sc=documents&id=B0A22789320E3247!215
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Alright, I've downloaded the file and I'm burning the image to a CD right now, using InfraRecorder. Should I back anything up before booting the CD, or is it safe not to worry about it?

I'd also very much appreciate it if someone could give step-by-step instructions on what to do after booting the CD.

 

[Marquis]

Ok, when I do that it says that it's first step will be to initialize the disk. That means I'll lose everything, right? How can I back up the stuff I'd need to keep (most importantly the Recovery partition)? Or am I wrong about losing data?

 

[Marquis]

Give me a few minutes, I'm burning it to disk now, I thought I had one; I'm going to run a simulation in VirtualBox to see the exact steps for you, check back in a bit.

Just to clarify, because I worded my post very poorly, initializing the disk is the first in the list of Operations Pending when you select to convert from dynamic to basic.

 

[Marquis]

Thanks, it worked fine. I really appreciate the help (especially since it kept me from losing any of my data).

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello again mate, I'm very pleased you got it to work and thanks for the update.