Disk Management

To add a second hard drive in Microsoft® Windows® XP, you must first initialize the disk using Disk Management. Use the following steps. These steps assume the hard drive is properly installed and detected within the BIOS.

  1. Open Disk Management.

    1. From the Start menu, click Control Panel.
    2. In Control Panel, open Administrative Tools.

      • If the computer is in Category View, click Performance and Maintenance, and then click Administrative Tools.
      • If the computer is in Classic View, double-click Administrative Tools.

    3. In the Administrative Tools window, click Computer Management.
    4. In the Computer Management window, click Disk Management.

    Note: Disk Management may also be opened from the Start menu by clicking Run. In the Run dialog box, type: diskmgmt.msc. Click OK.

  2. In the Disk Management window, the new hard drive shows up as Disk 1 "Not Initialized".

    Note: A hard drive that has already been formatted in another Windows XP computer may not need to be initialized.
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  3. In the Disk Management window, right-click Disk 1, and then click Initialize Disk.
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  4. In the Initialize Disk dialog box, click OK.
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  5. After the disk has been initialized, a partition needs to be created. In the Disk Management window, right-click the unallocated drive to the right of Disk 1, and then click New Partition.
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  6. In the New Partition Wizard dialog box, click Next.
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  7. In the New Partition Wizard dialog box, click Next.
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  8. In the New Partition Wizard dialog box, click Next.
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  9. In the New Partition Wizard dialog box, assign a drive letter, and then click Next.
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  10. In the New Partition Wizard dialog box, select the file system and volume label, and then click Next.
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  11. In the New Partition Wizard dialog box, click Finish.
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  12. In the Disk Management window, the drive automatically starts formatting. When finished, the drive is available for use.
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