User Manual

Instruction manual
5
Prepare a hard drive for use
Windows OS
If you install a hard drive that has data on it, after you connect the dock to your
computer, the hard drive appears under My Computer or Computer with a hard drive
letter assigned to it. If you install a brand-new hard drive that doesn’t contain any data,
you must prepare the hard drive for use.
Warning! When you complete the following steps, all of the data on your hard drive
will be deleted. If your hard drive has data on it that you require, you should create a
backup le or use a dierent drive.
1. Depending on the version of Windows® OS that you’re running, do one of the
following:
• On your desktop, right-click My Computer and click Manage.
• On your desktop, right-click Computer and click Manage.
• Click the Start button or Windows icon. Enter compmgmt.msc and press
Enter.
2. On the Computer Management screen, click Disk Management.
3. A dialog window appears and asks you to initialize the hard drive. Depending on the
version of Windows OS that you’re running, you have the option to create either an
MBR or a GPT disk.
Note: GPT (GUIDE partition) is required for hard drives that are larger than 2 TB,
but GPT isn’t compatible with some earlier versions of operating systems. MBR is
supported by both earlier and later versions of operating systems.
4. Locate the disk that is labeled Unallocated. To conrm that the hard drive is the
correct one, check the hard drive capacity.
5. Right-click the section of the window that says Unallocated and click New
Partition.
6. To initialize the hard drive in the format of your choice, complete the on-screen
instructions.
When the hard drive is successfully installed, it appears under My Computer or
Computer with a drive letter assigned to it.