Windows Vista Security: Praxisorientierte Sicherheit für Profis

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Chapter 19: Managing Disks and Drives

Deleting Volumes

Occasionally, you may need to delete volumes that you no longer need. You might

also need to delete a volume if you want to extend or reconfigure another volume on

the same disk drive. Because deleting a volume erases all data on the volume, you

will want to copy or move all data on the volume and then verify the copy or move

prior to deleting the volume.

You can’t delete the system or boot volume. However, Windows Vista

will let you delete the active volume if it isn’t also designated as boot,

system, or both. Always check to ensure that the volume that you are

deleting doesn’t contain important data or files.

You can delete a volume by following these steps:

1. In Disk Management’s Graphical view, right-click the volume that you want to

delete and then select Delete Volume.

2. When prompted to confirm that you want to delete the volume, click Yes.

Recovering Volumes

As part of routine preventive maintenance for your disks, you should periodically

check disks for errors, defragment volumes, and clean up unnecessary temporary

files. Windows Vista provides separate utilities for each of these tasks; they are dis-

cussed in Chapter 20.

When you experience problems with a disk, you can use Disk Management to help

you troubleshoot. In most cases, simple volumes are easier to troubleshoot and

recover than spanned and striped volumes. With simple volumes, only one disk is

involved. If a disk with a simple volume has problems, you might see the Failed,

Online (Errors), or Unreadable status. You can correct most error status flags simply

by right-clicking the volume and selecting Reactivate Disk. If this doesn’t work, click

Rescan Disks on the Action menu. If a disk is listed as Failed or Unreadable and

won’t return to a Healthy status, you should replace the volume. If a disk is listed as

Online (Errors) and won’t return to an Online status without errors, you should

check the disk for errors, as discussed in Chapter 20.

Sometimes you might need to reboot your computer to get a disk back online. The

Online (Errors) status can also be an indicator of a failing disk, so if you see this sta-

tus several times on the same disk, check for problems with the drive, its controller,

and its cables. A bad power supply could also be the source of the problem, so make

sure that the drive has power. If you can’t fix the problem, you’ll need to replace the

disk. Shut down your computer before you try to examine your computer’s hardware.