If media has information that you don't need anymore, you can initialize the media and prepare it for use in the Free media pool. When you do this, you destroy the information on the media and move it to the Free media pool.

To prepare media and move it to the Free media pool, access Removable Storage in Computer Management, and then double-click Media Pools. Expand Free Media pools. Right-click the media you want to prepare, then click Prepare. Confirm the action by clicking Yes.

You can move media to a different media pool to make it available for use or to allocate it to an application. Access Removable Storage in Computer Management, and then double-click Media Pools. Expand the pool you want to work with. In the details pane, drag the media you want to move to the applicable media pool in the console tree.

The only type of media pool you can create is an application media pool. In Removable Storage, right-click Media Pools, then click Create Media Pool. Or right-click an existing application media pool, and then click Create Media Pool.

In the Create A New Media Pool Properties dialog box, shown in Figure 23-4, enter a name and description of the media pool. If the media pool will contain other media pools, select Contains Other Media Pools. Otherwise, click Contains Media Of Type, and select an appropriate media type from the list.

Figure 23-4. Create the media pool.

Complete the process by clicking OK. As necessary, allocate media and configure security. These tasks are described in the sections entitled "Setting Allocation and Deallocation Policies" and "Setting Access Permissions for Removable Storage," respectively, later in this chapter.

Each media pool can contain only one type of media. Normally, the media type is assigned when the media pool is created, but you can change the media type, provided no media is currently assigned to the media pool.

In Removable Storage, double-click Media Pools. Right-click the media pool you want to work with, then select Properties. In the General tab, select Contains Media Of Type, then select an appropriate media type from the list. Click OK.

Application media pools can be configured to allocate and deallocate free media automatically. By enabling this process, you ensure that when an application needs media, the application can obtain it, and then when the media is no longer needed, it can be returned to the Free media pool.

You configure allocation and deallocation of media in Removable Storage. Double-click Media Pools. Right-click the media pool you want to work with, then select Properties. This displays the dialog box shown in Figure 23-5.

Figure 23-5. Set the allocation and deallocation policies.

The media pool must contain media of a specific type and cannot be a container for other media pools. In the General tab, use the following options under Allocation/Deallocation Policy to control media allocation:

When you are finished, click OK.

In Removable Storage, you delete application media pools by right-clicking them and selecting Delete. Only do this if the media pool is no longer needed.