I have a laptop (only space for one disk) with a new disk installed. Due to the number of partions it has been converted to Dynamic Disk under Windows 7. Will this support the installation of a second edition of Windows 7 in its own partition or does the fact that it is a dynamic disk preclude such an option? If it will work am I right in thinking that dynamic disks will not support a linux partition due to the incompatibility with GPT25 years of loving (and too often hating) everything Microsoft.

Not sure, if I catch what is you aim, but I use dynamic disk for software RAID. GPT is useful for large partition (>2TB). GPT disk can be bootable, if BIOS supports UEFI. For multiple boot configuration I used GRUB and specification HIDE in configuration file that hide some partition from "praying eyes" of users. We would give you better answer, when you were given some more detailes. Nevertheless I hope that you have basic info to continue or change your plans to favour more effective configuration. Regards Milos

The original disk installed in the laptop was divided in to 3 partitions, the system reserved, Windows 7 operating system drive and another created by the laptop manufacturer containing a recovery image. The user replaced the disk with a larger drive and used a drive image utility to move those existing partitions onto the new disk leaving the additional space as unallocated. Since then he has created 2 further partitions taking the total up to 5 root partitions which has led to the drive being converted to Dynamic Disk although there is still some unallocated space. Discussions have been had about the normal warning prior to the conversion and he is now aware that the disk cannot be reinstated to basic without a complete reformat to recreate the MBR. He wants to use some if not all of the unallocated space to install another instance of Windows 7 as virtualisation is not suited and be able to boot in to either one according to the role of the laptop. He would also like to be able to boot in to Linux if possible. I have seen issues with dual booting XP with 7 on a dynamic disk but what about 2 versions of 7, they would each have their own partition so would not for example share the Program Files directory. Both understand Dynamic disk and the GPT disk format and would run from the same bootstrap loader in the system reserved partition. As I understand it the Dynamic disk would prevent the option of installing Linux anyway without a complete reload as it needs a MBR partition for its loader. I presume if he loaded Linux 1st he could then use GRUB but this would also lead toa complete reformat and he would lose the partition structure imported from the original disk.25 years of loving (and too often hating) everything Microsoft.

Sorry to say, it seems to me a bit crazy task. I would suggest the following: 1. Give up the factory recovery (because, which one version you would like to restore) 2. Prepare regular image of Windows 7 with sysprep and backup it (native way, acronis, ghost) 3. Prepare image of Linux 4. Prepare partitions with grub 5. Copy operating systems to disk 6. Grub would iniciate Windows startup ( configured with EasyBCD program (free version)) 7. Start live Linux from CD/DVD and change the grub configuration file to introduce hide parameters. Under the line: Not sure, but Linux could live in extended partition (question mark) Regards Milos

Hi, Hows everything going on? Please feel free to give me your update. Thanks. Regards, Leo Huang TechNet Subscriber Support If you are TechNet Subscription user and have any feedback on our support quality, please send your feedback here.Leo Huang TechNet Community Support

Unfortunatly it would appear a that Dynamic Disk precludes Dual boot in any form using any operating system, a rather short sighted design of disk structure from Microsoft. Using a test system I built a base Windows 7 load then added a 3rd partition. This in turn had Windows 7 installed and would dual boot. Installing an extra partition automatically created a extended partition with a logical partition of the selected size, the remainder of the logical partition showing free but allocated. Converting this structure to Dynamic Disk did bring up the warning about the loss of the secondary operating system being bootable which was confirmed, although the secondary installation is still listed attempting to load it just leads to a reboot. However after conversion, deleting all other partitions apart from the boot and then creating a new partition still will not allow another instance of Windows 7 to be installed as the installer recognises it as a Dynamic Disk. All this would not be an issue if the users system was not dynamic but basic and the user is convinced he did not make such a change. I think I have identified what has happened. The original system disk had 4 partitions occupying all the disk so all primary. Having used disk imaging software to transfer the old disk to the new he then had the 4 partitions again all primary but now with some unallocated space reflecting the increased size of disk. This was an invalid state for Windows Disk Manager so as soon as the user made any changes to the disk structure it was converted to Dynamic instead of Basic with an extended partition. I don't know if any warnings were presented to the user, he seems a bit unclear and may not have read them all. On the issue of Linux, that in itself will only support MBR. I have read some articles about possible workarounds and some references to GRUB2 being made to work with GPT disks but I have not been able to confirm this. In terms of a solution to this problem, reversal of GPT to MBR is not easily achieved. I will back up and remove one of the partitions from the original disk, reimage it back on the new drive, recreate the partition on the new disk as a logical drive and then install his second Windows 7 O/S as originally intended. I have confirm that it is possible to boot from a logical partition. As a complete aside, In this dual-boot scenario only one O/S can be used at any time unlike with virtualisation, is a second licence required?25 years of loving (and too often hating) everything Microsoft.

Hi, I am trying to involve someone familiar with this topic to further look at this issue. Regards, Leo Huang TechNet Subscriber Support If you are TechNet Subscription user and have any feedback on our support quality, please send your feedback here.Leo Huang TechNet Community Support

Hi , I would like you don't convert the disk that the system volume resides. I think there will be some workarounds to install dual-boot Windows 7 from a logical partition. If there is some unallocate space on the system, we can use diskpart to extend the volume. For more information, please see: How to extend a data volume in Windows Server 2003, in Windows XP, in Windows 2000, and in Windows Server 2008 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/325590 In this dual-boot scenario only one O/S can be used at any time unlike with virtualisation, you need to active every boot up system sperately. Thanks. Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.