Win 7 startup issues, and dynamic disks

[Shahmir k]

Hello.
So my problem is this - yesterday, my laptop wouldn't turn on, got stuck at the HP logo. So after some search, I saw someone saying to reset BIOS. I did. Now it went past the logo but said 'missing operating system'. I again read around and found I needed to use a recovery cd/dvd (i used win 10 installation dvd) to set my partitions as active or something. Also on advice I did 3 cmd commands, bootrec fix MBR and something like that.

At restart, it gave no problems but went into a boot loop.

I decided to give up and install win 10 and be done with that. But, I could not, it said my drives were dynamic and it needed basic drives.
Then I read some more and found that win7 uses dynamic, while some places said that dynamic are a lost cause for any Windows installation.


So, fine people of 7forums, I ask you this - should I use a win7 recovery disk to install a fresh copy of win7? I prefer 7, but I don't know if win 7 actually can install on dynamic. OR, should I use a bootable partition software DVD to convert my disks to basic? I'm told that it wouldn't wipe my data.

Thanks in advance!

 

[bigmck]

Hi -- First off you do not want Dynamic Disks. The next thing you do is get the disks back to Basic. You sound like you know how to do that with the partition software, so do that and we will then get your PC back to Win 7. If you don't want Win 10, don't get it. If you don't know how to get the disks back to Basic, reply back and state what software you have. Don't do anything you are not sure of. We can help.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi and welcome to SevenForums,
The only time I've gotten a popup message from windows to covert the ntfs/ basic disk to dynamic disk was if I was attempting to create another partition when there were already 3 partitions that existed.

Yes the name sounds tempting "dynamic" right ? not so much
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/26829-convert-dynamic-disk-basic-disk.html

 

[Shahmir k]

Ahoy again guys. So after making my post I inserted the win7 DVD and tried the custom install, again it said that my disks were dynamic and it wouldn't install. For the sake of nothing else to do I went into cmd once more and tried the whole bunch of bootrec commands (fixmbr, rebuildbcd and 2 more). I'd already tried that with win10 disk, but this time it worked! Booted into my intact win7.

So what do I do? Carry on with dynamic disks? Won't they cause a problem sometime?

There is another problem, when I click hibernate, screen turns off and after a few minutes, I'm at the lock screen. Should I make a new thread for this issue?

Anyway thanks a lot for the help!

 

[bigmck]

Keep all of you information on this thread. Do not worry about Hibernate, that can be fixed later == The first thing you must do is convert your disk to Basic. A Dynamic Disk is no good. Download MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition - Free download and software reviews - CNET Download.com You will use this to boot your PC. It will take a couple of minutes to boot. You will see dots on your screen, that is good. Once in Partition Wizard you will use it to convert back to Basic Disk. On the menu at the top you will see "Disk". Click on that and you will see "Convert Dynamic Disk to Basic". When you have clicked on that, let it work and then click "Apply" and it is done. Let us know how it goes.

 

[Shahmir k]

Minitool is a program right? So you mean I have to click the 'create bootable dvd' in the corner, to get a bootable dvd?

Also, when I ran the program on Windows it didn't allow conversion to basic, gave an error. Anyhow I'll try the button and try from boot.

 

[bigmck]

Minitool is a program right? So you mean I have to click the 'create bootable dvd' in the corner, to get a bootable dvd?

Also, when I ran the program on Windows it didn't allow conversion to basic, gave an error. Anyhow I'll try the button and try from boot.

Click on the blue link in my post and it will take you to the site. Make the bootable DVD and boot your PC with it in the DVD drive. Then go in and follow my instructions in the previous post. You must boot with Partition Wizard in the DVD Drive.

 

[Shahmir k]

Okay, I did as you asked. Downloaded that, clicked the button, it sent me to this page - MiniTool Partition Wizard Bootable 9.1. I downloaded that .iso, booted into it, clicked on change into basic disk. It said this feature isn't supported by the free version and gave a link to this page.

Is there possibly any other software I could use? Or am I messing up somewhere?
https://www.partitionwizard.com/comparison.html

 

[Shahmir k]

So I ended up using the .iso provided here. Gave this error.



__________________________________________________________________________________________

Another thought - could this be the problem? I read somewhere that basic disks don't support this kind of configuration (sorry for the load of questions, I didn't want to be completely useless )

 

[bigmck]

The only problem that you need to worry about now is changing back to Basic Disk, nothing else. Click on the link in Post 3 and read the tutorial? That is must.

 

[Shahmir k]

The only problem that you need to worry about now is changing back to Basic Disk, nothing else. Click on the link in Post 3 and read the tutorial? That is must.

I did read the tutorial - of the 4 options listed, only the first can do it w/o wiping data. I did both methods listed in option 1 (boot and program) and both gave same error (Cannot convert any dynamic volume type except simple or mirrored volume).

What can I do now?

Thanks for the help.

 

[bigmck]

Give this a try. They advertise free program with no data loss. See if it works.
Free Convert Dynamic Disk to Basic Disk Without Data Loss - EaseUS

If the above does not work, get the pay version of Partition Wizard here to change back to Basic Disk.
https://www.partitionwizard.com/dynamicdisk/dynamic-disk-convertor-without-data-loss.html
$39, it might be worth it to you.

 

[Shahmir k]

Downloaded EaseUS, there's no option to convert where there should be. I *tried* the paid version of Partition Wizard as well, same result as free version. Could you maybe instruct me how to get the 2 G:/ drives and the 2 unallocated spaces merged? I think that's why none of these programs are able to convert.

 

[bigmck]

You are doing something wrong with Partition Wizard professional (pay copy). It will do it.. Read the instructions again. It will correct your problem and not lose data. Did you make a boot disk? You can not install the program on the same disk you are trying to change. Make a bootable disk and do the work from that.