1. Open the disk management console. In order to do so, bring up the Windows start page (mouse or swipe the bottom left corner) and type "diskmgmt.msc". Windows will display the disk management applet in the left of the screen- click on it to launch (illustrated here:)
2a. Right-click on the drive letter and select Format in the pop-up menu. The Format dialog box will appear. If the hard disk is not signed for use, the New Partition option will be unavailable. In this case a signature can be written on the hard drive by right clicking on the disk description window and selecting "Initialize Disk". The following dialog box will prompt you to choose The partition style for the new volume- select MBR for volumes smaller then 2TB, or GPT for volumes larger then 2TB or for volumes that you do not need to access with Windows XP or earlier.
2b. If your drive has no drive letter or has no readable volume (unallocated space), find your disk by verifying the drive capacity. It should be close to the stated capacity of your drive in gigabytes. If the volume is unallocated, select the disk, and right-click the "unallocated" section of the volume. In the context menu, left-click "New Simple Volume." The new volume dialog box will appear. Follow the on screen instructions to complete volume formatting. (Illustrated below)
3. Select the disk, and right-click the "unallocated" section of the volume. In the context menu, left-click "New Simple Volume." The new volume dialog box will appear. follow the on screen instructions to complete volume formatting.
