3 Free Ways to Initialize a Disk on Windows 11/10/7 and XP

Initializing a disk is the process of preparing the disk for data storage. Typically, you need to initialize a disk when you add a new hard drive to your computer in order to write data to it. Sometimes, you may also need to initialize an old disk if it becomes corrupted due to a virus infection, bad sectors, or other issues.

Possible Reasons to Initialize a Disk on Windows

Here are some common reasons why you might want to initialize a disk on your computer:
1. You added a new hard disk to your computer.
2. The disk shows as uninitialized after cleaning, deleting, or due to other reasons.
3. The disk is corrupted due to a virus attack, bad sectors, or other causes.
4. You want to erase all data permanently from the disk by initializing it.

This article will share solutions for initializing disks on Windows XP, 7, 8, 10, and 11, no matter the reason behind the task.

Table of Contents

• Initialize Disk in Disk Management
• Initialize Disk Using Diskpart CMD
• Initialize Disk Using a Free Tool

#1 Initialize and Format a New Disk for Windows under Disk Management

When you install a new hard disk to your computer, it usually shows uninitialized. You have to initialize it in order to use it. You can follow the steps below to initialize and format a new disk for Windows under Disk Management:

Step1. Open Disk Management on Windows computer (it is available on Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10) and it will pop up a windows showing as image below.

 

If it does not pop up the window, you can right click the disk that shows uninitialized and select Initialize Disk option to show the window above.

Step2. Now, the uninitialized disk would shows as unallocated space. You can right click the unallocated space and create new partitions on the disk.

For more details to create new partitions, please visit this page – Free to create new partition Windows

#2 Initialize a Disk without Formatting by Diskpart on Windows

You can also run Diskpart from Command Prompt to initialize disk on Windows computer.

Initialize MBR Disk

To initialize MBR disk, please follow this guide:
Open Command Line > type Diskpart > list disk > select disk > attributes disk cleared readonly > online disk > convert mbr

Initialize Disk GPT
To initialize MBR disk, please follow this guide:
Open Command Line > type Diskpart > list disk > select disk > attributes disk cleared readonly > online disk > convert gpt

You can create partitions after initializing disk on your computer.

#3 Freeware for Disk Initializing on Windows 11-XP

Whether you want to initialize a new disk or an old one because it shows uninitialized due to any reason, partition software IM-Magic Partition Resizer provides an easy solution for disk initializing on Windows.

Download IM-Magic Partition Resizer Free Edition

Step1. Right click the disk you need to initialize and select "Init Disk" option.

Choose MBR or GPT for the disk. If you do not know which one to choose, just leave it default setting.

Step2. Confirm to initialize the disk and click "Apply Changes" button.

Tips:

Initialize a disk would erase data. Therefore, if any disk shows uninitialized due to virus infection or bad sectors, you had better recover all data from the disk in advance before initializing it.

Note: If your disk is corrupted and shows as not initialized, logical errors can usually be fixed, but it might be beyond repair if there is physical damage. Here are several ways to fix a logically damaged disk that cannot be initialized: how to fix disk cannot be initialized.