From: nospam@needed.invalid   
      
   On Sun, 12/21/2025 2:38 PM, Steve wrote:   
      
   >   
   > No, neither the software (Samsung Magician) nor my computer can see the new   
   SSD.   
   > Someone earlier asked what it shows on Disk Management. I looked.   
   > It says Disk 0 Basic 931.32 GB Online. Then the next box shows 931.32 GB   
   Unallocated.   
   >   
   > So Disk Management knows it's there. Now I need to know how to format it and   
   give it a drive number.   
      
   https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/storage/disk-ma   
   agement/initialize-new-disks   
      
   Note:   
      
   Since you will be using cloning software, the main purpose of the above   
   exercise, is to "impress you that the SSD works OK and you can put folders on   
   it".   
   When you do the procedure on that page, File Explorer should have your new   
   (named) partition. Don't forget to use a unique name for the demo partition.   
      
   We're not doing this to manually copy a whole bunch of stuff.   
   The cloning will do that for us. C: partitions are best handled   
   by cloning, not by using   copy a b   type operations.   
      
   When a disk has never been initialized, it can be initialized as   
      
      MBR  (MSDOS partitioning, up to 2.2TB of storage is supported by this   
   method)   
           (Uses Primary partition, or also an Extended Partition as an envelope,   
   holding Logical Partitions)   
      
      GPT  (GUID Partition table is a newer method, handling very large disks and   
            large numbers of partitions. Does not have or need "Primary" or the   
   like.   
      
   Do NOT define GPT unless you know the cloning operation is making   
   a GPT disk as well. While most of the time there aren't problems, sometimes   
   software that changes a disk back to MBR, forgets to erase the secondary GPT   
   table, and all sorts of weirdness (you'll need a helper then) will result.   
      
   It is perfectly fine to make a 2TB drive an MBR one.   
   That's because GPT uses all the same stuff as MBR, plus   
   it adds its own materials as well. It will just stomp all   
   over the MBR bit.   
      
   Whereas a disk which is GPT, the MBR when it goes to stomp on   
   the GPT, it doesn't always erase all the GPT bits.   
      
   There are ways to fix these things, but not in this posting.   
      
   Follow the recipe for MBR on that web page, and the cloning   
   you'll do later when you line up the software for it, will just   
   pave over your little MBR experiment you want to try now.   
      
   With the way things are currently cabled, it looks like your   
   new drive is Disk 1 (Unallocated). Unless you start changing the   
   cables, it'll be Disk 1 later today too.   
      
       Paul   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)