Format a hard drive?

[sciamwow]

Hey guys,
I just finished my first build (Woop woop!) and everything is running smoothly. Everything is on a new 1tb HDD that I bought. If I want to format my old 500gb HDD and install it into the new build as well, what steps do I need to take? The old PC is on Windows 7 and the new is Windows 8.1
Thanks!

 

[atmos929]

when you are isntalling windows... when it asks you to choose a drive to install, there should be an advance options, that lets you format the drive prior to installing windows in it

 

[sciamwow]

when you are isntalling windows... when it asks you to choose a drive to install, there should be an advance options, that lets you format the drive prior to installing windows in it

I already have the PC running with windows. I want to add the 500gb drive for additional storage

 

[atmos929]

oh sorry, I misunderstood...

There are no special considerations to take... just connect the drive, windows 8.1 will detect it and install drivers... then just format it as you would any other drive (like a usb drive)

No considerations except everything will be wiped, backup anything you don't want to lose ... (had to make sure)

 

[hwc1954]

Yeah. Just plug it into your new computer -- probably SATA cable and SATA power connection. Boot up the computer. It'll recognize the drive. Probably call it drive D:.

If you want to format it, just find the drive in Windows Explorer and right click. It'll have FORMAT as one of the pop-up menu choices.

You can even change the name of the disk or assign a different drive letter or change partitiions using Windows Disk Management utility.

 

[sciamwow]

oh sorry, I misunderstood...

There are no special considerations to take... just connect the drive, windows 8.1 will detect it and install drivers... then just format it as you would any other drive (like a usb drive)

No considerations except everything will be wiped, backup anything you don't want to lose ... (had to make sure)

Got it. Thanks!

 

[sciamwow]

Yeah. Just plug it into your new computer -- probably SATA cable and SATA power connection. Boot up the computer. It'll recognize the drive. Probably call it drive D:.

If you want to format it, just find the drive in Windows Explorer and right click. It'll have FORMAT as one of the pop-up menu choices.

You can even change the name of the disk or assign a different drive letter or change partitiions using Windows Disk Management utility.

Thank you!