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CompTIA A+ Core 2 1.3 CompTIA A+ Core 2 1.9 CompTIA Tech+ 3.1
TechKnowSurge Catalog Interactives Set Up a New Disk
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Set Up a New Disk

Initialize, create a volume, give it a letter, format it. Put the steps of setting up a new disk in Windows in order.

⚑ Complete this interactive to capture a CTF flag worth 5 points.

About this interactive

A new disk is just a physical drive: Windows can see it, but there is nowhere to save a file. The lesson set one up in Disk Management, and every step depends on the one before it. First the disk is initialized. That writes a partition table, the record of where each partition starts and ends, in one of two styles: GPT, the GUID Partition Table (the newer one, and the default), or MBR, the Master Boot Record. The video calls GPT a "good partition table"; the G stands for GUID, a globally unique identifier. Next you create a volume in the unallocated space and choose its size. On an ordinary Windows disk, each volume you create gets a partition of its own: two volumes, such as a system volume and a data volume, means two partitions. (The video describes one partition split into several volumes; that is not how an ordinary Windows disk is set up.) Then Windows gives the volume a drive letter, which is what makes it show up as a "drive" such as E:, and you choose its file system (NTFS for a drive used only by this Windows PC) and a label. Formatting writes that file system. Only now does the new drive appear in This PC, ready for files.

What you'll learn

Aligned to

CompTIA A+ Core 2
1.3 Given a scenario, use features and tools of the Microsoft Windows 10/11 operating system (OS).
1.9 Given a scenario, perform OS installations and upgrades in a diverse OS environment.
CompTIA Tech+
3.1 Explain the purpose of operating systems.

Key terms

Partition
A defined section of a physical storage drive that can be used for booting a device or organizing storage; a drive may contain one or more partitions.
Volume
A logical partition of a storage device that the operating system manages as a single accessible unit for reading and writing data.
GUID Partition Table
GPT
A modern disk partitioning standard that uses globally unique identifiers to define partitions, supporting drives larger than 2 TB and up to 128 partitions on Windows systems. GPT replaces the legacy MBR scheme and is required for UEFI-based systems.
Master Boot Record
MBR
A legacy partitioning scheme and boot sector located at the very beginning of a storage drive that contains the partition table and boot code used to start the operating system. MBR supports drives up to 2 TB and has been largely superseded by the GPT partitioning scheme.
Drive Letter
A single alphabetic character assigned by Windows to identify and provide access to a logical drive or volume, such as C: or D:.
Disk Management
A Windows built-in utility that lets administrators view, partition, format, and assign drive letters to storage disks, including creating and extending volumes without requiring a reboot.

Topics

Partition Volume Drive Letter Disk Management Formatting Interactive Ordering

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