Microsoft KB Archive/308209

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PSS ID Number: 308209

Article Last Modified on 12/18/2003


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
  • Microsoft Small Business Server 2000


This article was previously published under Q308209

IN THIS TASK

SUMMARY

You can use the Windows 2000 Disk Management snap-in tool to manage your hard disks and the volumes or partitions that they contain. With Disk Management, you can create and delete partitions, format volumes with the FAT, FAT32, or NTFS file systems, upgrade disks, and create fault-tolerant disk systems. You can perform most disk-related tasks without having to restart your computer because most configuration changes take effect immediately. This article describes some of the more common disk storage management tasks that you can perform by using Disk Management.

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Start Disk Management

To start Disk Management:

NOTE: You must be logged on as Administrator or a member of the Administrators group to use Disk Management.

  1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
  2. Double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management. Alternatively, open the MMC containing the Disk Management snap-in.
  3. In the console tree, click Disk Management.


In the Disk Management window that is displayed, your disks and volumes are displayed in a graphical view or list view.

To customize how you view your disks and volumes in the upper and lower panes of the window, click View, point to Top or Bottom, and then click the view that you want.

NOTE: Before a new, unpartitioned disk can be used in Windows 2000 (partitioned or upgraded to Dynamic Disk), it must contain a disk signature. The first time the Disk Management snap-in is run after a new hard disk is installed, the Disk Signature and Upgrade Disk Wizard is started. If the wizard is cancelled, you may find that when you attempt to create a partition on the new hard disk, the Create Partition option is unavailable (appears dimmed). back to the top

How to Manage Basic Disks

Basic disk storage supports partition-oriented disks. A basic disk is a physical disk that contains basic volumes (primary partitions, extended partitions, or logical drives). If you upgraded your computer to Windows 2000 from Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, basic disks may also contain spanned, mirrored, striped, and RAID-5 volumes if they were present in the previous operating system. You can create up to four primary partitions on a basic disk, or up to three primary partitions and one extended partition. You can also use free space on an extended partition to create logical drives.

If you want computers that are running Windows NT 4.0 or earlier, Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition, Microsoft Windows 98 or earlier, or Microsoft MS-DOS to access your disk partitions, you must use basic disks, because these operating systems cannot access data that is stored on dynamic disks.

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Create a New Partition or Logical Drive

To create a new partition or logical drive:

  1. In the Disk Management window, do one of the following:
    • Right-click unallocated space on the basic disk where you want to create the partition, and then click Create Partition.


-or-

    • Right-click free space on an extended partition where you want to create the logical drive, and then click Create Logical Drive.
  2. On the Welcome to the Create Partition Wizard page, click Next.
  3. On the Select Partition Type page, click the type of partition that you want to create, and then click Next.
  4. On the Specify Partition Size page, specify the size in megabytes (MB) of the partition that you want to create, and then click Next.
  5. On the Assign Drive Letter or Path page, enter a drive letter or drive path, and then click Next.
  6. On the Format Partition page, specify the formatting options that you want, and then click Next.
  7. On the Completing the Create Partition Wizard page, verify that the options that you selected are correct, and then click Finish.

The new partition or logical drive is created and is displayed in the appropriate basic disk in the Disk Management window. If you chose to format the partition in step six, the format process now starts.

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Format a Partition, Logical Drive, or Basic Volume

To format a partition, logical drive, or basic volume:

  1. In the Disk Management window, right-click the partition, logical drive, or basic volume that you want to format (or reformat), and then click Format.
  2. In the Format dialog box, specify the formatting options that you want, and then click OK.
  3. Click OK when you are prompted to format.

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View the Properties of a Partition, Logical Drive, or Basic Volume

To view the properties of a partition, logical drive, or basic volume:

  1. In the Disk Management window, right-click the partition or logical drive that you want to view the properties of, and then click Properties.
  2. In the Properties dialog box, click the appropriate tab to view a property.

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Delete a Partition or Logical Drive

To delete a partition or logical drive:

  1. In the Disk Management window, right-click the partition or logical drive that you want to delete, and then click Delete Partition or Delete Logical Drive.
  2. Click Yes when you are prompted to delete the partition or drive.

NOTES:

  • When you delete a partition or logical drive, all data on that partition or logical drive is deleted in addition to the partition or logical drive itself.
  • You cannot delete the system partition, boot partition, or a partition that contains the active paging (swap) file.
  • You cannot delete an extended partition unless the extended partition is empty. All logical drives must be deleted before you can delete the extended partition.

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Upgrade a Basic Disk to a Dynamic Disk

Before you upgrade a basic disk to a dynamic disk, note the following:

  • You must have at least 1 MB of unallocated disk space available on the basic disk that you want to upgrade.
  • When you upgrade to a dynamic disk, the existing partitions on the basic disk are converted to simple volumes on the dynamic disk. In addition, any existing mirrored volumes, striped volumes, RAID-5 volumes, or spanned volumes are converted to the dynamic volume equivalent.
  • After you upgrade to a dynamic disk, the dynamic volumes cannot be changed back to partitions. You must first delete all dynamic volumes on the disk, and then convert the dynamic disk back to a basic disk.
  • After you upgrade to a dynamic disk, local access to the dynamic disk is limited to the Windows 2000 operating system.

To upgrade a basic disk to a dynamic disk:

  1. In the graphical view of the Disk Management window, right-click the basic disk that you want to upgrade, and then click Upgrade to Dynamic Disk.


NOTE: You must right-click the gray area that contains the disk title at the left of the Disk Management details pane, for example, Disk 0.

  1. In the Upgrade to Dynamic Disk dialog box, click to select the check box beside the disk that you want to upgrade, and then click OK.
  2. In the Disks to Upgrade dialog box, click Details if you want to view the list of volumes in the disk.
  3. Click Upgrade.
  4. Click Yes when you are prompted to upgrade, and then click OK.

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How to Manage Dynamic Disks

Dynamic disk storage supports volume-oriented disks. A dynamic disk is a physical disk that contains dynamic volumes. With dynamic disks, you have the ability to create simple volumes, volumes that span multiple disks (spanned and striped volumes), and fault-tolerant volumes (mirrored and RAID-5 volumes). Dynamic disks can contain an unlimited number of volumes.

Local access to dynamic disks (and the data they contain) is limited to Windows 2000-based computers. Dynamic volumes cannot be accessed by, or created on, computers that are configured to dual-boot or multi-boot Windows 2000 and one or more versions of Windows NT 4.0 and earlier, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98 Second Edition and earlier, and MS-DOS.

You create dynamic disks when you use the Upgrade to Dynamic Disk command in Disk Management to upgrade a basic disk.

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Create a Simple or Spanned Volume

To create a simple volume or a spanned volume:

  1. In the Disk Management window, do one of the following:
    • To create a simple volume, right-click unallocated space on the dynamic disk on which you want to create the simple volume, and then click Create Volume.


-or-

    • To create a spanned volume, right-click unallocated space on one of the dynamic disks where you want to create the spanned volume, and then click Create Volume.
  2. On the Welcome to the Create Volume Wizard page, click Next.
  3. On the Select Volume Type page, click either Simple volume or Spanned volume, and then click Next.
  4. On the Select Disks page, do one of the following:
    • If you are creating a simple volume, verify that the disk in which you want to create a simple volume is listed in the Selected dynamic disks box.


-or-

    • If you are creating a spanned volume, under All available dynamic disks, click to select the disks that you want, and then click Add.


Verify that the disks in which you want to create a spanned volume are listed in the Selected dynamic disks box.

  1. In the Size box, specify the size (in MB) that you want for the volume, and then Next.
  2. On the Assign Drive Letter or Path page, enter a drive letter or drive path, and then click Next.
  3. On the Format Volume page, specify the formatting options that you want, and then click Next.
  4. On the Completing the Create Volume Wizard, page, make sure the options that you selected are correct, and then click Finish.

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Extend a Simple or Spanned Volume

If you want to increase the size of a simple or spanned volume after it is created, you can extend it by adding unallocated free space on the dynamic disk. To extend a simple or spanned volume:

  1. In the Disk Management window, right-click the simple or spanned volume that you want to extend, and then click Extend Volume.
  2. On the Welcome to the Extend Volume Wizard page, click Next.
  3. On the Select Disks page, click to select the disk or disks on to which you want to extend the volume, and then click Add.
  4. Verify that the disks onto which you want to extend the volume are listed in the Selected dynamic disks box.
  5. In the Size box, specify the amount of unallocated disk space (in MB) that you want to add, and then Next.
  6. On the Completing the Extend Volume Wizard, page, ensure the options that you selected are correct, and then click Finish.

NOTES:

  • You can only extend NTFS volumes or volumes that do not yet contain a file system.
  • You can extend simple and spanned volumes only when the volume was originally created on a dynamic disk. Simple or spanned volumes that result from a basic to dynamic disk upgrade cannot be extended.
  • You cannot extend the system or boot volume.

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Create a Mirrored (RAID-1) Volume

A mirrored volume, also known as a RAID-1 volume, is a fault-tolerant volume that duplicates data on two different physical disks. Mirrored volumes are only available on computers running Windows 2000 Server or Advanced Server.

For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

293420 Cannot Create a Mirrored Volume in Windows 2000 Professional


Mirrored volumes provide data redundancy by using two identical copies (mirrors) of the volume. Both mirrors of the volume use the same drive letter.

To create a mirrored or RAID-5 volume, use the procedure that is described in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

298155 HOW TO: Set Up Fault-Tolerant Sets on Dynamic Disks


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Create a RAID-5 Volume

A RAID-5 volume is a fault-tolerant volume in which data and parity is striped across three or more physical disks. If part of one physical disk fails, you can recover the data on the failed disk by using the data and parity information on the functioning disks.

RAID-5 volumes are only available on computers running Windows 2000 Server or Advanced Server. However, you can use a computer running Windows 2000 Professional to create RAID-5 volumes on remote computers that are running Windows 2000 Server or Advanced Server. You must have administrative privileges on the remote computer to do this.

To create a mirrored or RAID-5 volume, use the procedure that is described in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

298155 HOW TO: Set Up Fault-Tolerant Sets on Dynamic Disks


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Format a Dynamic Volume

To format a dynamic volume:

  1. In the Disk Management window, right-click the dynamic volume that you want to format (or reformat), and then click Format.
  2. In the Format dialog box, specify the formatting options that you want, and then click OK.
  3. Click OK when you are prompted to format.

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View the Properties of a Dynamic Volume

To view the properties of a dynamic volume:

  1. In the Disk Management window, right-click the dynamic volume that you want to view the properties of, and then click Properties.
  2. In the Properties dialog box, click the appropriate tab to view a property.

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Delete a Dynamic Volume

To delete a dynamic volume, follow these steps:

  1. In the Disk Management window, right-click the dynamic volume that you want to delete, and then click Delete Volume.
  2. Click Yes when you are prompted to delete the volume.

NOTES:

  • When you delete a volume, all data on the volume is deleted in addition to the volume itself.
  • You cannot delete the system volume, boot volume, or any volume that contains the active paging (swap) file.

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Convert a Dynamic Disk Back to a Basic Disk

Before you can change a dynamic disk back to a basic disk, all volumes must be deleted from the dynamic disk.

To convert a dynamic disk back to a basic disk, right-click the dynamic disk that you want to change back to a basic disk in the Disk Management window, and then click Revert to Basic Disk.

NOTE: You must right-click the gray area that contains the disk title at the left of the Disk Management details pane, for example, Disk 0.

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Troubleshooting

Disk Management makes it easy for you to detect when a disk or volume fails. Status descriptions are displayed in graphical view and under the Status column of list view in the Disk Management window. These descriptions inform you of the current status of the disk or volume.

  • Online: This is the normal disk status when the disk is accessible and functioning correctly.
  • Healthy: This is the normal volume status when the volume is accessible and functioning correctly.
  • Online (Errors) (displayed with dynamic disks only): The disk may display this status if I/O errors are detected on it.


To resolve this issue, right-click the disk, and then click Reactivate Disk to return the disk to Online status.

  • Offline or Missing (displayed with dynamic disks only): The disk may display this status if it is inaccessible. This may occur if the disk is corrupted or made temporarily unavailable.


To resolve this issue, repair any disk, controller, or connection problems, verify that the physical disk is turned on and correctly attached to the computer, right-click the disk, and then click Reactivate Disk to return the disk to Online status.

For a complete list of disk and volume status descriptions, see Disk Management Help. (In the Disk Management snap-in, click the Action menu, and then click Help.)

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REFERENCES

For additional information about basic and dynamic disks, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

175761 Dynamic vs. Basic Storage in Windows 2000


222189 Description of Disk Groups in Windows 2000 Disk Management


For additional information about working with dynamic disks, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

254105 Dynamic Disk Hardware Limitations


225551 Restrictions on Extending or Spanning Simple Volumes on Dynamic Disks


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Keywords: kbHOWTOmaster kbinfo KB308209
Technology: kbSBServ2000 kbSBServSearch kbwin2000AdvServ kbwin2000AdvServSearch kbwin2000Pro kbwin2000ProSearch kbwin2000Search kbwin2000Serv kbwin2000ServSearch kbWinAdvServSearch kbZNotKeyword3



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