How to set up a disk to install Windows 11
In Windows 11 clean installation (setup) disk settings, you can make detailed disk settings such as formatting, partition deletion, creation, and division. This page introduces how to set the disk in “Where to install Windows 11” during installation.
Please refer to the following page for how to clean install Windows 11.
Setting up the disk to install
Initialize an existing disk
When formatting an existing disk, there are two situations as shown below, so please execute according to the purpose.
- If you do not change the current disk configuration , use ” Format ” to format only the partition where Windows 11 is installed or another partition and delete the data.
- If you want to adjust the capacity or change the number of partitions, execute ” delete ” and rebuild all partitions.
Please note that when you “format” or “delete” a disk drive, all files and data on the disk will be deleted.
Formatting an existing disk
Select the partition where Windows 11 is installed and click “Format”.
When formatting, a confirmation screen will be displayed to confirm that the files and data will be deleted, so click “OK”.
If you don’t want to delete any files or data on the partitioned disk except the partition where you install Windows 11, don’t format the other partitions. Formatting will delete all data. To continue the clean install, select the partition where Windows 11 will be installed and click “Next”.
Delete existing disk partition (rebuild)
If you want to create a new partition on an existing disk and divide it to adjust the capacity or change the number of partitions, you can delete the partition and then rebuild it.
- Select the partition and click “Delete”. After the deletion is finished, the name of the partition will change to “Unallocated Space”.
- Perform this operation on all partitions to permanently delete them.
If all partitions are deleted, the state will be as shown below.
How to create a new partition is introduced in the next section, ” Creating and dividing a partition “.
Initialize a new disk
If it is a new disk, no partitions have been created, so create partitions and then format it.
* Since the partition has not been created yet, “Format” cannot be clicked.
First, create partitions in the next section, ” Creating and dividing partitions “. You can format it after the creation is completed.
Create and split partitions
Here, we introduce how to create a partition from the state where no partition is created on the disk. Select the drive you want to partition and click New.
* Since the partition has not been created yet, “Format” cannot be clicked. First create a partition to install Windows 11.
- At least “120000 (120GB)” is recommended for the size. If there are many apps to be added after setup, set a larger size.
- Change the capacity in the size box and click “Apply”. The unit is MB and “1000” is “1GB”. .
To change the size, enter the number directly or use the button that appears when you move the pointer to the right edge of the box. - If you click “Apply” without making any changes, the disk will not be split. Explorer shows only “C:”.
Click OK when the confirmation screen is displayed.
The content of the message is that a recovery environment area may be created to be used for restoration. It is created with the name “System Reserved” or “Recovery”.
Click “Apply” and wait for a while to complete the partition creation. It may be slightly different from the specified size, but there is no problem.
The first partition is the recovery area “system reserved” partition that was explained on the confirmation screen.
Add Partition (Split)
Click Unallocated Space to select it, then click New.
Just like the first partition you created, specify the size and click “Apply”.
- If you “Apply” with the size as it is, two disks of “C: D:” will be created.
- If you want to increase the number of partitioned drives like “C: D: E: F:”, change the size to a smaller size and repeat the same operation to create partitions.
To redo partition creation, select the partition to be redone and click “Delete”.
When you delete the partition, a confirmation screen will be displayed to confirm that the files and data will be deleted, so click “OK”.
You can do this operation any number of times, so you can set up partitions with confidence.
After creating the partition, format the partitioned disk.
Select the split partition and click “Format”. Format all partitions except “System Reserved”.
When formatting, a confirmation screen will be displayed to confirm that the files and data will be deleted, so click “OK”.
*When installing Windows 11 from partition creation, formatting is not necessary, but we recommend formatting just in case.This completes the partition creation and split operations. To continue with a clean install, select the partition you created first and click Next.