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Make Your Volume Available for Use on Windows

After you attach a block storage volume to a Windows node, it appears as a new disk in the operating system.
Before you can use it, you must bring it online, initialize it (if new), create a partition, and format it with a filesystem.

The steps below explain how to make an attached volume available on your Windows instance.

1. Log in to Your Windows Instance​

Connect to your Windows node using Remote Desktop (RDP).

2. Open Disk Management​

  1. On the Windows taskbar, right-click the Start (Windows) icon.
  2. Select Disk Management from the context menu.

This opens the Disk Management utility, which lists all connected storage devices.

3. Bring the Disk Online​

In the Disk Management window, newly attached block storage volumes may appear as Offline.

  1. Locate the new disk (for example, “Disk 1” or “Disk 2”).
  2. Right-click on the disk label (not the volume area) and select Online.

Once online, the disk status changes from Offline to Online.

4. Initialize the Disk (For New Volumes)​

If the disk is new and unformatted, you must initialize it before creating partitions.

  1. Right-click the disk label (e.g., Disk 1).
  2. Select Initialize Disk.
  3. In the prompt, choose one of the following partition styles:
    • GPT (GUID Partition Table): Recommended for modern systems and disks larger than 2 TB.
    • MBR (Master Boot Record): Suitable for disks up to 2 TB.

Click OK to initialize.

Initializing a disk that already contains data (for example, from a snapshot) will delete existing data. Only initialize new, empty disks.

5. Create a New Volume and Assign a Drive Letter​

Once initialized, the disk space will appear as Unallocated.

  1. Right-click the unallocated area of the disk.
  2. Select New Simple Volume.
  3. Follow the New Simple Volume Wizard:
    • Specify the volume size (use default to allocate full capacity).
    • Assign a drive letter (e.g., D:, E:).
    • Select a filesystem type (typically NTFS).
    • Choose a volume label (optional).
    • Complete the wizard.

The wizard automatically formats the volume and assigns a drive letter.

6. Verify the New Volume​

After formatting completes, the new volume will appear in both:

  • Disk Management (as a “Healthy” volume), and
  • File Explorer (under “This PC”) with the assigned drive letter.

You can now use the volume for data storage.

7. Persistently Mount the Volume (Optional)​

By default, Windows automatically remembers and remounts volumes across reboots using their assigned drive letters.
If you prefer to mount a volume to a folder path instead of a drive letter, you can do so:

  1. Open Disk Management.
  2. Right-click the volume and choose Change Drive Letter and Paths.
  3. Click Add, select Mount in the following empty NTFS folder, and choose a directory.

This is useful for application data disks or when you want consistent paths (e.g., C:\Data\Storage).

8. Safely Remove or Detach a Volume​

Before detaching a block storage volume from your node:

  1. Close all files and applications using the volume.
  2. In Disk Management, right-click the volume and select Offline.
  3. Then detach it from the node via your cloud platform’s console.

This ensures data integrity and prevents corruption during detachment.

note
  • Always ensure that you do not initialize or format disks containing existing data.
  • NTFS is recommended for most workloads due to its reliability and Windows compatibility.
  • For very large or high-performance workloads, ReFS (Resilient File System) may be used where supported.
  • Once formatted, the disk is ready for use and will automatically remount after reboot unless detached.