2ndary HDD

[CJW]

My sister gave me a comfuser she hasn't used in a few years & no longer wants. I tested it & the mobo has gone bad, so I took out the HDD & put it in my comfuser as a 2ndary HDD. The drive shows up as 2 drive letters (System Reserved D & Local Disk E).

My questions:
1. Why 2 drive letters?
2. Which letter do I format to a blank state?
3. Can I do this while in my 7 machine or should I take out my primary drive 1st?

 

[AddRAM]

comfuser ?

Delete the entire drive to unallocated space, then create a single partition for storage.

1) That`s normal for a windows 7 install (don`t worry about it)
(System Reserved D & Local Disk E) you answered your own question.
2) Delete both partitions down to unallocated space.
3) Yes, do it form your Windows 7 machine.

If it`s just going to be a storage drive, then you can make it a Logical partition, instead of a Primary.

This can all be done with Disk Management or you can install and use Partition Wizard, which I recommend. (for a novice)

Free Partition Manager for Window PC | MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition

 

[comptech]

delete entire partion to unallocated space and create new as you need...
unallocated space

 

[CJW]

Whoops!

1. I opened Computer Management
2. Clicked Disk Management & deleted both D: & E:
3. Drive completely disappeared & I had to shutdown, unplug & reseat connectors a few times before drive showed back up.

I just want to format the drive to the point that all space is available & I can use it as a 2ndary storage drive. Can I just format the D:?

 

[CKWD]

Hello CJW!

If you've successfully erased the D and E partitions you should see now one black stripe of Unallocated space, which you need to Initialize, Partition and Format, which could all be done through Disk Management.

Then you will have all of the drive's space for storage purposes or what ever you'd like.

CK_WD

 

[AddRAM]

I told you how to do it in reply #2

You did not have to take the computer apart.

 

[CJW]

CKWD:

Below is what I now see under Computer & Computer Management.
For some reason, the D: & E: will not combine. Any ideas as to why?

 

[CKWD]

Your D: and E: partitions aren't erased – they have a file system, unlike the other 98% of the drive which shows as Unallocated. Obviously, you haven't managed to delete them like you say in Post #4, but that's ok.

Just right click on each of the D: and E: partitions and select Delete volume. This should turn them into Unallocated space.

Though, the D: partition is marked as Active, meaning it has bootable files on it and OS.

So, after you right click on both volumes and Delete them, you should have the whole drive look like a black stripe saying Unallocated with the capacity written on it. This should do it.

If by any chance this doesn't work, research for a third party software to use and delete the volumes on that drive or better yet – write zeros on it.

Post a screenshot afterwards to check.

CK_WD

 

[CJW]

It worked this time, not sure why it didn't work last time since I did the same steps before.
I can now format the Unallocated space, correct?

 

[Berton]

A disk showing as Unallocated needs to have a Partition created on it first followed by formatting. All HDDs need at least one partition. After creating a partition Disk Management usually starts, or prompts to start, the formatting.

 

[CJW]

I formatted the drive & all went smoothly, no partitioning needed.

 

[whs]

Of course you have a partition - it is D.

 

[CKWD]

When you clicked New Simple Volume it automatically created the whole drive as one partition, which you've formatted, successfully, obviously, and assigned a drive letter – D.

Check your drive regularly for errors to keep it healthy and prolong its life.

Cheers!

CK_WD