Yeah, Nik, it sounds like you're in a classic Catch-22: You need to clone or image your hd so you can delete the dynamic vol and change it to basic but you need a basic vol to clone or image your hd. You need to find a backup program or hard disk manager that works w/dynamic disks and has a free trial. You might look into Norton Ghost or Paragon or Partition Magic, which may have trials.
Also, I found this, but you better be sure you know exactly what you're doing:
HOWTO: Convert a dynamic disk back to a basic disk without data loss
**Disclaimer: This ONLY works if you have NOT used ANY of the "new" features of dynamic disks such as extending a partition or software RAID. This is an expert-level procedure, so if you don't know what you are doing, you shouldn't be attempting this.**
1) Install dskprobe.exe on the system. (This is one of the utilities in the Win2K or WinXP support tools on the install CD, and can be installed by simply copying the .exe file to the hard drive.)
2) Run dskprobe.exe on the system.
3) Select the Drives menu and "Physical Drive. . ."
4) Double click on the drive that you want to convert back to a basic disk. Click the "Set Active" button next to that drive.
5) From the Sectors menu, select "Read"
6) Accept the defaults (begin sector 0, read 1 sector) and click "Read"
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7) In the editor, go to the "01C0" line and the third bit should be a "42".Change that to a "07".
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8 ) From the Sectors menu, select "Write". Confirm all dialog boxes. **Note: This is the step that will hose your box if you have not followed the above instructions correctly.**
9) Exit dskprobe.exe. Reboot
10) Run chkdsk on the affected logical drive(s). If any errors are found, do a chkdsk /f to fix them. Done.
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/archive/index.php/t-92213.html
H
