Formatting a used SSD containing multiple partitions

[bobzwik]

Hello,

I have been shopping around for an SSD for my oldish desktop, and apparently my father had a spare Crucial MX300 525GB lying around, so he gave it to me. He told me that he tried using it as an OS drive, but his setup wasn't really compatible in the end.

My desktop currently has 3 500GB HDDs running in Raid 5, and I want to scrap that to install the SSD and a 1TB HDD. I would like to install the Windows 10 on the SSD, however, I need to format it first.

Currently, when I use Disk Management, I see that the SSD has 4 partitions:
- 260 MB EFI System Partition
- Windows (D) / 472 GB NTFS Primary Partition
- Windows RE tools / 980 MB NTFS Primary Partition
- RECOVERY (E) / 15.2 GB NTFS Primary Partition

So my question is, what do I need to do to this drive to get it ready to install Windows 10 on it? Do I merge all partitions, then format it? Do I leave the EFI partition intact?

I will then be following these instructions to install windows 10 (I am already familiar with the procedure).

Thanks in advance! I was surprised I couldn't find this question online, so I'm wondering if I`m missing something obvious.

 

[USAFRet]

Just during the OS install.
From your above linked tutorial, Section II, Step 6 & 7 speaks to deleting all existing partitions on it.

Or...
Windows commandline
diskpart
the /clean command.

Wipes out all partitions on that drive.

 

[coozie7]

First off, clear the HDD you want to use, scrub it or just format it from Windows.
Power the system down, remove all the unwanted HDDS and pop in the SSD so you only have one HDD and the SSD installed.
Disconnect the HDD, so only the SSD will be recognised by the system.
Power up and pop in your Windows install media.
Restart and begin the Windows install procedure, probably you'll need to reset the BIOS to boot off the install media and restart...again.
During the install, as you know, Windows will ask for a drive to install to, delete all the available partitions and format the SSD as one single C drive, Windows will probably add other partitions at this point.
Install to the main partition.