How to Initialize New Disks

New disks appear on your computer as not initialized. In order to use a new disk, you must initialize it. If you are logged on to your computer as an administrator, or as a member of the Administrator's group, you can follow these steps in order to initialize new disks.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Click “Start” and then click on “Control Panel." If you are using an older version of Windows you will click “Start," point to “Settings” and then click on “Control Panel."
2. If your “Control Panel” is in “Category View," click the option in the task pane that says “Switch to Classic View."
3. Double click “Administrative Tools” and then double click “Computer Management.”
4. In the “Console Tree” click on “Disk Management.”
5. Right click the disk you want to initialize, and then click “Initialize Disk.” The “Initialize Disk” dialog box will appear.
6. Select the disk or disk you want to initialize.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are connected to a network, your network policy settings may prevent you from changing how your disk sizes are displayed.
• If you start “Disk Management” directly after adding a disk the “Initialize Disk Wizard” will appear and allow you to initialize your disk this way.

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