AOMEI Partition Assistant
[3 Free Ways] How to Set up A New SSD on Windows 10
Here, you can learn how to set up a new SSD on Windows 10. If you cannot initialize your SSD drive as expected with Windows built-in tools, this article also provides you with effective countermeasures.
By Tina / Updated on May 12, 2023
Why do we need to set up a new SSD?
"Hi! My C drive crashed, so I bought a new larger SSD and installed it on the computer. I have a full C: backup on an external drive, but unfortunately, the computer doesn’t find the new SSD I want to restore the backup data to. If I want to use a new SSD, the first thing I have to do is initialize my new SSD to make it can be recognized. How to set up a new SSD on Windows 10? Thanks for your help."
As the example mentioned, when you want to store data with a new SSD, you need to initialize it, or Windows will not be able to access this SSD.
By convention, you can set up SSD as GPT or MBR, but there’re some differences between them:
▶ MBR: refers to Master Boot Record, a commonly used disk layout and support BIOS boot mode.The maximum storage space of a partition table in MBR is limited to 2 TB, and it only supports 4 primary partitions, or a combination of 3 primary partitions and 1 extended partition.
▶ GPT: is the Globally Unique Identifier Partition Table. It's the newer disk layout that corresponds to UEFI boot mode. GPT partition table disks support disks larger than 2 TB. Besides, there is no limitation on maximum partition size.
How to set up a new SSD on Windows 10 and 11
In order to properly to store data on the new SSD, setting up it is the first task. But how to set up a new SSD in Windows 10? Next, we will introduce three methods to perform it.
│Method 1. Initialize a new SSD via Diskpart
Diskpart is a built-in tool available in Windows to execute the entered commands. Most of the commands will operate through scripts and batch files. If you are a deep PC enthusiast (can proficiently use the commands to solve a series of problems), Diskpart is undoubtedly your first choice to set up a new SSD.
Step 1. Enter "diakpart" in the search box, and click "Run as administrator" in the right window.
Step 2. Input the following commands and press "Enter".
list disks
select disk 2
convert gpt (You can also type "convert mbr" to initialize the SSD to MBR.)
Step 3. After the SSD is successfully initialized, type "list disk", "select disk 0" and "create partition primary" to create a new partition.
│Method 2. Set up SSD via Disk Management
Another Windows built-in tool Disk Management seems to be easier to operate, it have powerful functions such as marking partition as active and extend volume. It can also help you to set up a new SSD, let’s see how to set up a new SSD on Windows 10:
Step 1. Press "Windows +R" and input "diskmgmt.msc" to open Disk Management.
Step 2. Right-click the new SSD and click "Initialize Disk".
Step 3. Select MBR or GPT, then click "OK".
Step 4. If the SSD is successfully initialized, right click on a partition and select "New Simple Volume". Reading the wizard, you can choose NTFS as the file system.
│Method 3. A freeware to set up a SSD
Generally speaking, Diskpart and Disk Management can help you set up a new SSD in Windows 10. But sometimes, the complicated diakpart command makes you confused or you may get some errors such as “initializing disk device is not ready”, “the system cannot find the file specified” when initializing SSD with Disk Management.
So how to set up a new SSD for Windows 10 successfully? At this point, you can consider using a free alternative - AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard, it is an all-in-one GUI tool. In a clean and bright interface, you can easily set up the new SSD. After initializing SSD, you can also create new partitions on the target hard drive.
In addition, this powerful tool also provides you with functions such as "Format partition", "Resize partition" and so on.
Please download this freeware to see how to set up SSD on Windows 10.
Step 1. Download and open AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard, right-click your new SSD and select "Initialize Disk".
Step 2. In the pop-up window, select "MBR" or "GPT", then click "OK".
Step 3. Click "Apply" in the upper left corner of the window to confirm the process.
When you complete the initialization, you can also use this tool to create a partition.
Step 1. Right-click on unallocated space to create a new partition, then click "Create Partition".
Step 2. Drag the slider or enter the amount of space, You can also click "Advanced" to see more options.
Step 3. Click "Apply" to confirm this operation.
Verdict
To conclude, we have shared three ways for how to set up a new SSD on Windows 10. By comparison, there is no doubt that AOMEI Partition Assistant is the easiest.
By the way, if you want to know more advanced features, such as Convert system disk between MBR and GPT, Allocate free space and Move Application from one partition to another, you might as well go to the Professional Version.
