Backing Up a Basic GPT Disk to a Dynamic GPT Disk

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xShadowWolfx

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Mar 15, 2016
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Long story short. I had a HDD that was a MBR basic disk. I have since converted it to a GPT basic disk. I need it to be a dynamic GPT disk. I already have one dynamic GPT disk that I can use for the back-up. Side note, this is my boot drive. I know that data can be lost when doing something like this.

As the title says: would I be able to back up the basic GPT disk to the dynamic GPT disk, then convert the basic disk to a dynamic disk and restore the back-up to the converted disk?

Will converting my boot drive to dynamic lose any data?

Thanks for any help you can give.
 
Solution
JaredDM
Going from basic to dynamic is easy and straightforward. It's going back the other way that's a problem. If you want a backup that'll boot, just make a sector by sector clone of the whole disk. This will copy the partition tables, so it makes no difference what partitioning it's currently using, whether it's basic or dynamic, etc.. The whole partitioning structure is just in the first few sectors of the drive typically, so it all copies over in a clone like that.
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JaredDM

JaredDM

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Jul 8, 2015
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Going from basic to dynamic is easy and straightforward. It's going back the other way that's a problem. If you want a backup that'll boot, just make a sector by sector clone of the whole disk. This will copy the partition tables, so it makes no difference what partitioning it's currently using, whether it's basic or dynamic, etc.. The whole partitioning structure is just in the first few sectors of the drive typically, so it all copies over in a clone like that.
 
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Solution
pauls3743

pauls3743

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Dec 24, 2011
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I don't think your target drive will cause you much bother but your source drive could. IIRC, when you're in the Windows installation environment using the "repair your computer" options I don't think it can read dynamic disks.
 
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