Can I reinstall to a dynamic disk?


  1. Posts : 248
    Windows 10 Pro
       #1

    Can I reinstall to a dynamic disk?


    I want to reinstall Windows on my laptop but I don't have suitable a medium to install to so I want to create an extra partition on my hard drive and use that as the installation medium. When I try to create this partition I get a warning that this will make the disk dynamic and the only partition it will be able to boot from is the current boot partition - will this stay the same when I reinstall Windows? Windows itself create two small partitions for 'System Reserve' and 'Recovery Partition' so with my sytem and data partitions that five in total.

    Picture insertion not working: http://imgur.com/c29JR49.png
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 18,432
    Windows 11 Pro
       #2

    Why can't you boot from a Windows 10 USB flash drive or DVD to re-install Windows with?
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 248
    Windows 10 Pro
    Thread Starter
       #3

    NavyLCDR said:
    Why can't you boot from a Windows 10 USB flash drive or DVD to re-install Windows with?
    I'm visiting home and don't have a writable DVD nor USB drive available.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 18,432
    Windows 11 Pro
       #4

    THX1138 said:
    I'm visiting home and don't have a writable DVD nor USB drive available.
    I would recommend you use MiniTool Partition Wizard:
    Best Free Partition Manager for Windows | MiniTool Partition Free

    You will want to convert your C: drive Windows partition and the 450 mb recovery partition to logical partitions. This will put them into one extended partition. Then you can create a partition for the installation files in the unallocated space at the end of the drive. Then I would use EasyBCD to add the boot.wim file in the sources folder to the existing boot menu:
    EasyBCD - NeoSmart Technologies

    Scroll down on the webpage and you will find the free version. Once you can boot into the Windows setup boot.wim file you can select the custom install option. When you get the list of partitions on the hard drive, delete all the partitions that are before your data partition, select the unallocated space to install to, cross your fingers and hope for the best. If you don't have a bootable USB flash drive or DVD and it fails for some reason, you will have a brick until you can make one to boot the computer from.

    I, personally, would not do it without a bootable USB flash drive or DVD.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 248
    Windows 10 Pro
    Thread Starter
       #5

    I have several RW-CDs. Can I span the installation media over multiple CDs instead of a DVD?
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 18,432
    Windows 11 Pro
       #6

    THX1138 said:
    I have several RW-CDs. Can I span the installation media over multiple CDs instead of a DVD?
    Not that I know of. I don't know if Kyhi's Recovery Tools will fit on a CD or not:
    Windows 10 Recovery Tools - Bootable Rescue Disk

    If you can make a CD of that and boot from it that would give you a pretty good safety net assuming you don't erase the Windows 10 installation files from your hard drive. Especially if the drivers included in the recovery tools support connecting to the internet on your laptop.
      My Computer


 

  Related Discussions
Our Sites
Site Links
About Us
Windows 10 Forums is an independent web site and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Microsoft Corporation. "Windows 10" and related materials are trademarks of Microsoft Corp.

© Designer Media Ltd
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 22:32.
Find Us




Windows 10 Forums