Aug 04, 2023 • Filed to: Answer Hard Drive Problems • Proven solutions
Solid-state drives are now the best option to use in most computers. It’s fast, lightweight, and makes use of flash memory, making it less likely to wear down, unlike hard disk drives. If you’ve currently changed your laptop’s drive to an SSD but it won’t show on your computer, you may need to initialize it first.
Initializing your drive is the process of preparing it for use of an operating system. It is essential if you’re encountering problems with your drive upon first using it. This problem may be in the form of your brand new SSD not being read by your computer. Or it could be in the prompt saying Disk Unknown Not Initialized. It could also be in the error prompt You must initialize a disk before the Logical Disk Manager can access it. All these problems would be solved when you initialize your disk. However, take note that doing so would erase all of the data in the disk. It’s advisable to do if your disk is brand new or empty.
In the following paragraphs, we’ll tell you how to Initialize an SSD on Windows 11/10. We’ll also recommend some third-party software that will do the job for you in case you’re not confident in performing the task on your own.
1. Press on Windows key + R to launch Run. Then put in diskmgmt.msc > OK to open Disk Management.
2. Locate your hard drive of concern. Right-click on it to view the options. Select Initialize Disk.
3. It will tell you whether the disk is offline or online. Set it to Online by making a right-click.
4. An Initialize Disk Window will pop up. Again, click on the disk you want to initialize and hit OK. This is where you assign the partition style.
5. Once the process is finished, you may need to restart your PC to see if your SDD was initialized.
1. On the Start menu or in the search bar, type in diskpart, and hit Enter. This will launch the Diskpart command line.
2. Type the command below, pressing Enter after every line.
list disk
select disk #
convert MBR/GPT.
NOTE: This will initialize the chosen disk to MBR or GPT. Replace # with the drive letter
3.Type in the commands below on the command-line if you intend the primary partition to be made on MBR.
list disk
select disk #
clean
create partition primary
format quick fs=ntfs
assign
exit.
4.Type in the following command if you want to make a primary partition on GPT.
list disk
select disk #
clean
convert gpt
create partition primary format quick fs=ntfs
assign
exit.
5. You may need to reboot to see the changes take effect.
If either of the two methods mentioned above doesn’t work, you can always resort to using third-party partition software. All software that will be mentioned currently has both free and paid versions. They are all capable of initializing your disk plus many other features.
1.Paragon Partition Manager
Paragon Partition Manager simplifies things to the average users. The graphics in the interface help visualize the partition’s remaining capacity and partitions. With just a click, you can launch a whole set of options and queue them up until you are ready to apply them. It also allows users to convert drives without actually formatting them. It’s an all-in-one solution to any of your disk partition needs.
2.Acronis Disk Director 12
One of the defining features of Acronis Disk Director is its versatility. It boasts of many advanced features that you won’t think you’ll need. Apart from the essentials of any disk management software, it offers more. It allows users to convert partitions and clone schemes. Most importantly, it’s also highly compatible with many operating systems.
3.AOMEI Partition Assistant
AOMEI is a household name when it comes to partition management software. I’m fully equipped with the features you would expect any disk management software to have. With AOMEI, you can copy, create, delete, resize, and rename partitions with ease. The software’s interface is highly commendable for its clean and crisp design. It’s easy to navigate while keeping things professional-looking.
Always remember that the process of initializing wipes out the disk of all the files. It’s only performed if your SSD is brand new or never been used before. If you find that your new SSD is not recognized by your computer, you may initialize it first. This can be done through the previous solutions mentioned above.
If your SSD is not shown on the computer. After solving the problem, you find that information stored in the solid-state hard drive is gone, you can jump to How to Recover Data from SSD to gain more useful details.
If your computer uses UEFI, it is best to use GPT. In general, this layout has many advantages with regard to security and has practically no technical limitations with regard to partition management. On the other hand, if your computer does not support the GPT layout, you should use MBR as it is compatible with practically any computer.
This problem is usually caused by the computer not having updated drivers. Download the most updated drivers for your motherboard from the manufacturer's page and, in the same installation window where the device should be, you will find an option that will allow you to load drivers from an external storage medium.
As long as the health of the device is favorable, you shouldn't have any problem installing Windows on an SSD. If the partition table management layout is not correct, an error will be displayed on the screen. However, this can be easily fixed by toggling between MBR and GPT with the help of the "Diskpart" tool via the portable version of the Command prompt (by pressing Shift + f10)
If you used to use an HDD as a boot device and recently purchased an SSD, it is a great idea for you to try using the SSD as a boot device. The performance and security improvements are quite noticeable, and as long as you back up your data, this process shouldn't be a problem.
No. You can reinstall Windows on an SSD device as many times as you want. Although SSD lifespan is shortened by the number of write cycles they have done, these devices are designed to work for many years without you noticing any problems. On the other hand, remember to keep backup copies since formatting a device erases all the content that is used to store.
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