# Converting basic disk to dynamic without losing data



## jackdup (Nov 9, 2010)

According to Intel my laptop has RAID capability built into the chipset but it would seem Samsung has disabled it as there is no settings in the BIOS. In doing some reading it would appear there is a software RAID built into Windows 8.1, or at least driver mirroring which is what I want. It is also my understanding that you have to have the drive as a dynamic drive and mine is currently basic, so need to know;

1. Does the drive have to be changed to dynamic in order to use mirroring?
2. Can I convert my bootable drive with the OS and all of my data to dynamic without any data loss, and will it retain the recovery partition that has been provided for recovery purposes?
3 Is there any downside to having the disk as a dynamic instead of a basic, and if not why are all disks simply not dynamic to start with?
4. Is using this type of mirroring the same as a hardware RAID 1 where if one drive fails the other can be used without any interruption and will be bootable?


One other thing, is the program to check your computer for compatibility with Windows 8 still available? I did a search and everything I found said it was no longer available. I purchased Windows 8 when first released with the $39.95 special price and have an older Vista laptop I would like to use it on if it is compatible but can't find the program to run that checks for compatibility. Also would I be able to upgrade from Vista to 8 and maintain my data or programs or would I have to do a complete fresh install?

Thank you.


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

Why do you want to create a RAID 1 Mirror on a laptop? First off you have to have at least 2 internal Hard Drives of the same exact capacity size to complete this, most laptops don't have this. 
You do not need to convert your Basic HDD to Dynamic to do a RAID1 Mirror, only if you are going to be doing a RAID0 spanned set. But it works very well if both disks are Dynamic.
You can convert a Basic Disk to Dynamic without loosing Data. Change a Basic Disk into a Dynamic Disk
A Dynamic disk has many benefits but it cannot be read by older versions of Window. Also if there is a problem with the drive sometime in the future, it is very difficult to recover files off of it. 
In a RAID 1 mirror if one drive fails, you will have to replace it, and then rebuild the array. You cannot remove a bad drive in the mirror and run it on one drive. Mirroring is not a replacement for Backup, you should always have a current backup of all of your important files on a separate HDD or DVD's
You can run the Windows 8.1 Upgrade assistant on your Vista Laptop to see if it is capable of running Windows 8: Upgrade Assistant: FAQ - Windows Help


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## jackdup (Nov 9, 2010)

I have already purchased and installed a second drive in my laptop. It is the exact same model number as the original drive. 

I have/had a RAID 1 setup (hardware) in my desktop and the original drive failed and I simply unplugged it and carried on with the other drive which had everything on it unlike the backup I had, which was from the day before. If I do 10 hours of work in a day and a drive fails before I run a backup that evening I have lost a days work and I can't afford to do that for the cost of a 1 TB drive, very cheap insurance. Even if I lost two hours of work it would pay for the second drive.

I could very well be misunderstanding how a mirror setup works and is perhaps different than a hardware RAID 1 and that is why I have posted to find out exactly what I can expect or the best way to proceed. I wish Samsung had not disabled the hardware RAID as that would have been the ideal way to accomplish what I want to do. From the reading I have done I also thought the mirroring would accomplish the same thing but I am obviously wrong so need to find an alternate method of having a continuous backup or copy of everything I do. Perhaps you could suggest something that would accomplish what I need if mirroring isn’t the answer.

Also can you explain how you setup mirroring without converting to dynamic as in Dish Management mirroring is not an option when selecting the drive and right clicking. Maybe there are some steps that I am missing.

Thanks for your advice.


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

RAID 1 mirror is the same with Hardware or Software. 
With a hardware RAID you do not have to create Dynamic Disks but if using the Windows tools you will have to convert: Setup software RAID 1 (Mirroring) in Windows 7 for desktop drive redundancy - Spiceworks
A RAID mirror is not a replacement for backup. There are many automatic backup programs that utilize local drives or Cloud services. Like Carbonite, Easeus, or the Vistas own. How to Back Up Your Computer in Windows Vista: 13 Steps


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## LMiller7 (Jun 21, 2010)

The purpose of RAID 1 is to protect access to your data but not the data itself. If one drive fails you can continue to access your data and drive replacement can be deferred to a more convenient time. This is a big deal on a busy server but usually not so with a desktop or laptop.

But RAID 1 only offers protection from drive failure and even that cannot be relied on. There are many causes of data loss other than drive failure and RAID 1 provides no protection from them whatsoever.

The only way to protect your data is maintaining backups. No form of RAID ever devised can do that.


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## jackdup (Nov 9, 2010)

I am confused as to why you keep assuming I am trying to use a RAID in place of a backup? As I stated above I cannot afford to lose an entire day's work if a drive fails before I have done a backup and the RAID offers that protection as it is a mirror right up until the drive fails. If it never fails then an $80 drive was cheap insurance.

The reason I assumed a hardware RAID was different from a software RAID was because you mentioned in your first reply “*You cannot remove a bad drive in the mirror and run it on one drive”*. It is that simple with a hardware RAID as that happened to me on my desktop not that long ago and I removed the failed drive and continued to use it with only one drive. I waited for Boxing Day sales to get a replacement drive. If software RAID is identical to hardware RAID then it should also allow a person to simply remove the failed drive and carry on, which is exactly what I want and need, but wanted to confirm that was the case as I have no experience with a software RAID.

By relying only on backups a drive failure would result inevitably in some loss of data as it is highly unlikely the failure would occur immediately after dong a backup. In addition most backups are not an image or a complete backup, but only incremental backups of daily data so you could easily spend a day installing a new drive and getting everything back to where it was before the failure.

If I simply used my computer for browsing the web and e-mail then a RAID would not really be required but given my use any loss of a days work would be very costly, plus the additional time required to install and get a new drive back to where I was prior to the failure, and that could take another day or more.

Thank you for replies.


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