Before you can use your new SSD you have to initialize and partition it. If you are performing a clean installation of your operating system, or cloning to your SSD, it is not neccessary to follow these steps. A clean installation of your operating system or cloning to an SSD will initialize and partition the new SSD.
Note: if you simply need to format/reformat a drive, only steps 5-9 below will be needed, assuming your SSD has previously been initialized.
- Attach the SSD as a secondary drive and load Windows from your existing drive.
- In Windows 7 and earlier, open Disk Management by right clicking on Computer and selecting Manage, then Disk Management.
In Windows 8 and later, move the mouse to the lower left corner of your desktop and right-click on the Starticon, then select Disk Management. - When Disk Management opens, a pop-up will appear and prompt you to initialize the SSD.
- Select GUID partition table (GPT) and click OK. MBR(Master Boot Record) is best for certain legacy software compatibility, but GPT is better for modern systems and higher capacity storage devices.
- Right-click in the area that says Unallocated and select New Simple Volume...
- The New Simple Volume Wizard will open, click Next.
- Leave the Specify Volume Size as the maximum (default value) and click Next.
- Select a Drive Letter and click Next.
- In the Format Partition screen, decide on a Volume label (the name you want to give the drive) and click Next.
The drive is now formatted and ready for use.
