How do I initialize a brand new hard drive in Windows or Mac OS? - StarTech.com IT Pro Community
<main> <article class="userContent"> <h2 data-id="windows-10">Windows 10 </h2><p>Before you can access a new or formatted drive in your operating system, you need to initialize it first and then create a partition on the drive. A partition defines an area of the drive to use for storing data. The partition uses a file system (for example, ex-FAT, NTFS, and so on).</p><h3 data-id="initialize-a-drive">Initialize a drive</h3><p><strong>Note:</strong> You typically only need to initialize a drive if the drive is new. If you cannot find an uninitialized drive in Disk Management, skip the following steps and try to partition your device.</p><ol><li>Press the <strong>Windows</strong> key +<strong> R</strong>, type <strong>compmgmt.msc</strong>, and click <strong>Run</strong> to open <strong>Computer Management</strong>.</li><li>Navigate to <strong>Disk Management</strong>.</li><li>When prompted to, initialize your disk(s). If you are running Windows® 7 or later and are using a drive larger than 2TB, initialize the disk(s) with GPT. If you are running an earlier version of Windows, initialize the disk(s) with MBR.</li><li>Click <strong>OK</strong>.</li></ol><h3 data-id="create-a-partition-in-a-drive">Create a partition in a drive</h3><p><strong>Note:</strong> The following steps create an NTFS partition that uses the entire drive space. To use a different file system, select a different option in step 6.</p><ol><li>Right-click <strong>Unallocated</strong> or <strong>RAW</strong> <strong>volume</strong>, and select <strong>New Simple Volume</strong>.</li><li>In the <strong>New Partition Wizard</strong>, click <strong>Next</strong>.</li><li>Select <strong>Primary partition</strong>.</li><li>Leave the <strong>partition size</strong> set to <strong>default</strong>, and click <strong>Next</strong>.</li><li>Assign a drive letter or leave it set to the default, and click <strong>Next</strong>.</li><li>Enter the following settings to format the partition:<ol><li>In the<strong> File System</strong> field, enter<strong> NTFS</strong>.</li><li>Set the <strong>Allocation unit size</strong> to <strong>Default</strong>.</li><li>In the <strong>Volume label</strong> field, enter <<strong><em>your name/reference</em></strong>>.</li><li>Select the <strong>Perform a quick format</strong> check box.</li><li>Clear the <strong>Enable file and folder compression</strong> check box.</li></ol></li><li>Click <strong>Next </strong>><strong> Finish</strong>.</li></ol><p>The new drive should appear in Windows Explorer.</p><h2 data-id="mac-os">Mac OS</h2><p>Before you can access a new or formatted drive in your operating system, you need to initialize it first and then create a partition on the drive. A partition defines an area of the drive to use for storing data. The partition uses a file system (for example, HFS+, ex-FAT, NTFS, and so on).</p><h3 data-id="initialize-a-drive-1">Initialize a drive</h3><p>Mac OSX detects a drive that needs to be initialized and automatically prompts you to initialize the drive. If you are prompted to initialize the drive, click <strong>Initialize</strong>. If you are not prompted to initialize the drive and you cannot find the drive in <strong>Finder</strong>, you will need to create a partition on the drive.</p><h3 data-id="create-a-partition-on-a-drive">Create a partition on a drive</h3><p><strong>Note:</strong> The following steps create an HFS+ (Mac OS Extended (Journaled)) partition that uses the entire drive space.</p><p>To create a partition on a new drive, complete the following:</p><ol><li>Open <strong>Finder</strong>.</li><li>Navigate to <strong>Applications</strong> and click <strong>Utilities</strong>.</li><li>Open <strong>Disk Utility</strong>.</li><li>Select the new drive and click the <strong>Partition</strong> tab.</li><li>Click <strong>Options</strong> and verify that it is set to <strong>GUID Partition Table</strong>.</li><li>Enter a name for the partition.</li><li>Click <strong>Partition</strong>.</li></ol><p>The drive should now be accessible in Finder.</p><p>For products related to this article, click <a 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