Restrictions on Extending or Spanning Simple Volumes on Dynamic Disks

ID: Q225551


The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server


SUMMARY

Simple volumes on dynamic disks can be extended on the same disk or set to span other disks, without restarting the computer, when more disk space is required. You can extend a simple volume only if the file system is NTFS. A spanned volume, which is a simple volume that exists on more than one disk, can initially be created with the FAT or NTFS file system. However, after a simple or spanned volume has been created with the FAT file system, it cannot be extended or spanned further. You can reformat the volume using NTFS and regain the ability to extend or span the volume.


MORE INFORMATION

Note that if the volume existed before the disk was upgraded to dynamic, it can never be extended or spanned no matter which file system it uses. If you try to extend this type of volume, you receive the following error message:

The selected volume was originally created on a basic disk and cannot be extended. Only volumes originally created on dynamic disks can be extended.
To extend or span a volume that was created before the disk was upgraded to dynamic, the volume must be deleted and re-created on the dynamic disk.

A simple volume cannot be extended or spanned in this situation because any existing basic partitions retain their partition table entries in the master boot record (MBR) so that Windows 2000 can boot from and install to the dynamic volume. Setup allows only installations and upgrades to dynamic disks that currently include the system or boot volumes. Extending or spanning a simple volume that still has a partition entry would disable this ability.

For additional information about dynamic disks and Logical Disk Manager, see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q175761 Dynamic vs. Basic Storage in Windows 2000
Q222470 Dynamic Disk Numbering and the Dmtool.exe Tool
Q222470 Disk Groups in Windows 2000 Disk Management

Additional query words: veritas ldm

Keywords : kbenv
Version : WINDOWS:2000
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbinfo


Last Reviewed: December 29, 1999
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