When a user tries to convert a basic disk to dynamic in Windows Vista or Windows 7 using disk management utility, it will fail with an error message saying “The pack name is invalid”.

This issue only occurs with computer systems whose “Computer Name” contains Non-ASCII characters, and will present itself with any non-ascii character sets belonging to various languages.

This article describes an update package that addresses common application compatibility issues in Windows Vista or in Windows Server 2008. Specifically, this update package provides Dynamic Update functionality during the installation of Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2) or Windows Server 2008 SP2. The following issues are addressed by this article:

• Adds a hard block for Eusing Free Registry Cleaner to prevent users from deleting the registry value of the Software Licensing Service (Slsvc.exe) image path.
• Adds a soft block when users try to upgrade Windows Server 2003 together with the Active Directory Management Gateway Service to Windows Server 2008.
• Adds help messages for Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2005 when Microsoft Forefront Client Security (FCS) is installed.
• Adds a hard block for the prerelease version of Hyper-V to prevent users from upgrading Windows Server 2008 together with the prerelease version of Hyper-V to Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 (SP2).
• Adds a block for Microsoft Zune to prevent users from trying to upgrade Windows XP to Windows Vista for Zune 4.0.

Note: If the computer is connected to the Internet when you upgrade the operating system, Dynamic Update prompts you to download critical content. You have the option to skip Dynamic Update during setup.

On a computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Vista, you cannot convert a basic disk into a dynamic disk. When you try to convert a basic disk, you receive an error message that resembles the following:

Package name is invalid

Consider the following scenario:

• You create more than 99 volumes on one or more dynamic disks in a computer that is running Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista.
• The size of one of the volumes is larger than 2 TB.
• You bring online all dynamic disks, take offline all dynamic disks, or you restart the computer.

In this scenario, you cannot access the volumes. In the Disk Management snap-in of Microsoft Management Console (MMC) window, all the dynamic disks are marked as Invalid. Additionally, if you try to make these disks active, you receive the following error message:

“The operation is not allowed on the Invalid pack”

You run the Dynamic Partition Testing for a Hot Replace test that is included in the Windows Logo Kit (WLK) in Windows Vista or in Windows Server 2008. However, the system crashes after the test runs for several minutes. Additionally, you may receive a Stop error message that resembles the following:

Stop 0×0000000A (Parameter1, Parameter2, Parameter3, Parameter4)
IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

Note: This problem only occurs if you have enabled the Force IRQL checking setting in the Driver Verifier tool (Verifier.exe) when you perform the WLK test.

Consider the following scenario. You restore a computer by using the Windows Complete PC Restore program in Windows Vista. You use the Format and repartition disks option. In this scenario, all dynamic disk volumes are removed and then re-created. This behavior occurs even if the dynamic disk volumes are not included in the restore process.

In my article “Dynamic Disc: Microsoft’s Bastard Child?” I noted how you might upgrade a computer from Windows XP to Vista, only to then find that you cannot access a dynamic disc. This is most likely due to your version of Vista not supporting dynamic disk, which would require upgrading, probably to Ultimate, to be able to read the disc. If you’re not prepared to do that, but still want to be able to use the disk, you can convert it back to a basic disk. The draw back is that you will loose all of your data, since the process is to first delete the volume, then recreate it from scratch. The next tip will include instructions on how to hack your dynamic disc back to a basic disk, which may save your data, but only if your dynamic disk doesn’t span multiple disks. Keep reading →