You cannot remove the volume after you convert the Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 installation partition from a Basic Disk volume to a Dynamic Disk volume

After you convert the disk partition on which Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 is installed from a Basic Disk volume to a Dynamic Disk volume, you experience the following symptoms:

• If you try to reinstall Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008, the Delete command in the Where do you want to install Windows dialog box is unavailable. Therefore, you cannot remove the Dynamic Disk volume.
• If you right-click the volume in the Disk Management tool in Windows Vista or in Windows Server 2008, the Convert to Basic Disk command is unavailable. This issue occurs because Windows must delete the contents of a volume to change the volume to a Basic Disk volume. Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 cannot delete the contents of the partition on which they are installed.

To resolve this problem, use one of the following methods, as appropriate for your situation.

Method 1: Format the volume

The Windows Setup program lets you format the Dynamic Disk volume. To do this, click Format in the Where do you want to install Windows dialog box when you install Windows Vista.

Method 2: Use Diskpart to remove the volume

You can use the Diskpart.exe command to remove the Dynamic Disk volume. To use this tool, you must start the computer to a command prompt by using a program such as the Microsoft Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE).

For more information about how to use Diskpart.exe, visit the following Microsoft Web site:For more information about how to obtain Diskpart.exe, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

For help with common system maintenance tasks in Windows Vista, visit the following Microsoft Web page: