How to find out what hard drive is on your computer? How to find out the real size of your hard drive
When assembling a computer, you have to deal with a huge amount of information. The choice of components is influenced by many factors. But there are also elements that remain unchanged in any case. For example, it will not affect the choice of video card, motherboard and other PC parts.
But it can affect the operation of the system. This is due to the fact that insufficient memory leads to lags and failures of various processes. Therefore, it is important to know what capacity the hard drive has.
Device
A hard drive, or hard drive, is a device that stores information and provides random access to it. The hard drive is based on magnetic recording. At the moment it is the main drive in consumer systems. Although they are actively starting to be replaced with faster devices - SSDs.
Characteristics
The capacity of a hard drive is one of its characteristics. It describes the amount of data that can be stored on a particular device. In addition to this parameter, hard drives are characterized by their interface - the conditional technical interaction of two devices. Modern models have received many interface modifications, so it is important to pay attention to this point when choosing.
Further, hard drives differ in physical size. Although it is unfair to say this at the moment, since from a certain point most manufacturers adhere to the standardized form factor of 3.5 inches for desktop PCs and 2.5 for laptops. The characteristics include spindle rotation, random access time, number of operations and energy consumption.
Capacity
Now let's move directly to the hard drive capacity. It is not difficult to guess that a lot of time has passed since the advent of the first railways. Accordingly, this figure grew exponentially. Now you can find drives with any capacity up to 10 TB, if we talk about the 3.5 form factor. It is also important to remember that disks always have a capacity that is a multiple of 1024. Although the manufacturers themselves always indicate parameters that are multiples of 1000. If you see that the drive has 200 GB, in fact its capacity is 186.2 GB.
Connected
Of course, if you bought your own hard drive, you most likely know its capacity. It is indicated in the store, on the packaging, and even on a sticker on top of the device itself. In this case, you can only double-check the hard drive capacity. Those who ordered equipment from third-party resources may also need to understand this issue. For example, Chinese online stores have long been famous for changing parameters. Thus, customers receive devices from the wrong company or with the wrong characteristics. This may require a similar capacitance analysis.
So, the equipment can be installed in the case and its characteristics can be viewed through the system. To do this, click on the “My Computer” icon. A new window opens. There will be one or more disks in front of us. You should not take into account only the drive and flash drive, if installed.
Usually, when installing a railway system, it is divided into several parts. The entire system is placed on drive C. It is recommended not to install anything else here. Drives D, E, and so on contain the user’s personal data. The total amount of their volume is the capacity of the railway. To fold it, you need to right-click on each disk, and then go to “Properties”. A new window will appear in which you will see a chart as well as numerical values. It shows how much is free and occupied, as well as the total volume. When calculating, do not forget to make allowances for the fact that the manufacturer indicates “beautiful” numbers. But instead of 500 GB, you will only have 452 GB.
Unconnected
There is a possibility that you just bought or were given a hard drive. Before connecting it, you can check the capacity. But for this you will need a special box. This is because not all devices have a USB interface. To check, we need to connect the hard drive through this connector. After you connect the hard drive to the system, you can check it using the method described above.
Programs
Perhaps for some reason the system check method through “My Computer” is not suitable for you. In this case, a third-party program can help. For example, AIDA64 Extreme Edition. It is enough to download it and install it on the hard drive being tested.
After launch, the software will scan the system. By the way, it shows not only information on the hard drive, but also on all other components. Therefore, after scanning you will have to find specifically the hard drive parameters. Then go to the “Data Storage” section, and then - “Total Size”. Here you can find out about the drive model and other useful information.
Record holders
When purchasing, it is better to know the maximum information capacity of the hard drive. Of course, you are unlikely to need the largest hard drive, but it’s worth at least understanding the scale of development of this device. So, the oldest capacity used was an 8 MB drive. Nowadays, a photo from some smartphones won’t even fit there. The most popular nowadays are HDDs starting from 500 GB. Although some older laptop models also have variations with 128 GB, etc.
It is known that a large hard drive capacity has virtually no effect on system performance. Sometimes you may not find space for your data and files as your PC may not be able to handle the volume. It will require more memory for temporary system files. From here, noticeable “brakes” of the system will appear.
The most capacious at the moment is a giant 10 TB drive. Such a disk can cost about 25 thousand rubles. But it will definitely be a lot for the average user. There is also a 6 TB model. Its price is slightly lower - 14 thousand rubles. It is very good that manufacturers, in addition to increasing capacity, also care about good speed, wear resistance and quality of materials.
Users who have purchased a pre-assembled PC or laptop often do not know which drive is installed on their computer. In this material, we will look at several simple ways to determine the type of drive in the operating system Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 10.
How to find out SSD or HDD in Windows 10
If you use the Windows 8 or operating system, then you can find out which disk is on your computer in just a couple of mouse clicks. To do this, open the Start menu or press the Windows-S key combination (if you have Windows 8) and enter the word “Defragmentation” into the search.
The program “and optimizing your drives” should appear in the search results. Open it and you will see a list of all the drives that are installed on your computer. In this case, next to each of these disks the type of this disk, SSD or HDD, will be indicated.
If “Solid State Drive” is indicated, then it is SSD, and if “ ”, then HDD.
How to find out SSD or HDD in Windows 7
If you use the Windows 7 operating system or the method described above did not work for you for some reason, then you can determine which disk is on your computer using third-party programs. For example, you can use the program. Launch this program on your computer, go to the “Drives” section and select the drive whose type you need to define as SSD or HDD.
If this drive is a hard drive, that is, an HDD, then on the right side of the window, in the “Media Rotation Rate” line, its rotation speed will be indicated (for example, 7200 RPM).
If the drive is a solid-state drive, that is, then in the “Media Rotation Rate” line it will be written “SSD Drive (Non-ratation)”.
You can also see what drive is installed on your computer using the program. Run this program on your computer and pay attention to the data in the “Storage” block. There will be information about all drives that are connected to the PC.
In this case, next to the solid-state drives (SSDs) there will be a corresponding mark.
If it is not possible to install these programs, then you can simply find out the name of the disk model and search for information about it on the Internet. In order to use this option, you need to open “Device Manager”. This can be done in different ways, the simplest and most universal is to press the Windows-R key combination and execute the command “mmc devmgmt.msc”.
In the "Device Manager" window, open the "Disk Devices" section. Here you will see a list of all the drives on your computer.
Enter the name of the desired disk into any search engine and study information about it. This way you can easily determine the type of drive SSD or HDD.
Hello.
Forewarned is forearmed! This rule comes in handy when working with hard drives. If you know in advance that such and such a hard drive will most likely fail, then the risk of data loss will be minimal.
Of course, no one will give a 100% guarantee, but with a high degree of probability, some programs can analyze S.M.A.R.T. readings. (a set of software and hardware that monitors the condition of the hard drive) and draw conclusions on how long it will last.
In general, there are dozens of programs to perform such a hard drive check, but in this article I wanted to focus on some of the most visual and easy to use. So…
How to find out the status of your hard drive
HDDlife
(By the way, in addition to HDD, it also supports SSD drives)
One of the best programs for constantly monitoring the condition of your hard drive. It will help you recognize the threat in time and replace the hard drive. Most of all, it captivates with its clarity: after launching and analysis, HDDlife presents the report in a very convenient form: you are shown the percentage of the “health” of the disk and its performance (the best indicator, of course, is 100%).
If your performance is above 70%, this indicates the good condition of your disks. For example, after a couple of years of work (quite active by the way), the program analyzed and concluded: that this hard drive is about 92% healthy (which means that it should last, unless force majeure occurs, at least the same amount) .
After launch, the program minimizes to the tray next to the clock and you can always monitor the status of your hard drive. If any problem is detected (for example, the disk temperature is high, or there is too little space left on the hard drive), the program will notify you with a pop-up window. Example below.
HDDLIFE alerts you when your hard drive is running out of space. Windows 8.1.
If the program analyzes and gives you a window like the one in the screenshot below, I advise you not to delay making a backup copy (and replacing the HDD).
HDDLIFE - the data on your hard drive is in danger, the faster you copy it to other media, the better!
Hard Disk Sentinel
This utility can compete with HDDlife - it monitors the disk condition just as well. What captivates us most about this program is how informative it is and how easy it is to work with. Those. it will be useful for both a novice user and an already experienced one.
After launching Hard Disk Sentinel and analyzing the system, you will see the main program window: hard drives (including external HDDs) will be presented on the left, and their status will be displayed in the right window.
By the way, there is a rather interesting function for predicting the performance of the disk, according to how long it will serve you: for example, in the screenshot below the forecast is more than 1000 days (that’s about 3 years!).
The condition of the hard drive is EXCELLENT. No problematic or weak sectors were found. No speed or data transmission errors were detected.
No action needs to be taken.
By the way, the program has a rather useful function: you can set the threshold for the critical temperature of the hard drive, upon reaching which Hard Disk Sentinel will notify you that it has been exceeded!
Hard Disk Sentinel: disk temperature (including the maximum for the entire time the disk was used).
Ashampoo HDD Control
An excellent utility for monitoring the status of hard drives. The monitor built into the program allows you to find out in advance about the first problems with the disk (by the way, the program can even notify you about this by e-mail).
Also, in addition to the main functions, a number of auxiliary ones are built into the program:
Disk Defragmenter;
Testing;
Cleaning the disk from garbage and temporary files (always relevant);
Deleting the history of visiting sites on the Internet (useful if you are not alone at the computer and do not want anyone to know what you are doing);
There are also built-in utilities for reducing disk noise, adjusting power, etc.
Screenshot of the Ashampoo HDD Control 2 window: everything is fine with the hard drive, condition 99%, performance 100%, temperature 41 degrees. (it is desirable that the temperature be less than 40 degrees, but the program considers that everything is in order for this disk model).
By the way, the program is completely in Russian, intuitively thought out - even a novice PC user can figure it out. Pay special attention to the temperature and status indicators in the main program window. If the program produces errors or the condition is assessed as extremely low (+ in addition there is a grinding or noise coming from the HDD), I recommend that you first copy all the data to other media, and then start dealing with the disk.
Hard Drive Inspector
A distinctive feature of this program is:
1. Minimalism and simplicity: there is nothing superfluous in the program. It gives three indicators in percentage terms: reliability, performance and absence of errors;
Hard Drive Inspector - monitoring the condition of the hard drive.
СrystalDiskInfo
A simple but reliable utility for monitoring the status of hard drives. Moreover, it works even in cases where many other utilities refuse, crashing with errors.
The program supports several languages, does not have many settings, and is designed in a minimalist style. At the same time, it has quite rare functions, for example, reducing the noise level of the disk, temperature control, etc.
What is also very convenient is a graphical display of the situation:
Blue color (as in the screenshot below): everything is ok;
Yellow color: alarm, measures need to be taken;
Red: you need to take immediate action (if you still have time);
Gray: the program was unable to determine the readings.
CrystalDiskInfo 2.7.0 - screenshot of the main program window.
HD Tune
This program will be useful to more experienced users: who, in addition to a graphical display of the “health” of the disk, also need high-quality disk tests, in which they can familiarize themselves in detail with all the characteristics and parameters. It should also be noted that the program, in addition to HDD, also supports new-fangled SSD drives.
HD Tune offers a rather interesting feature to quickly check a disk for errors: a 500 GB disk is checked in about 2-3 minutes!
HD TUNE: quickly find errors on the disk. Red squares are not allowed on a new disk.
Also very necessary information is checking the disk read and write speed.
HD Tune - checking disk speed.
Well, we can’t help but note the tab with detailed information about the HDD. This is useful when you need to know, for example, supported functions, buffer/cluster size or disk rotation speed, etc.
HD Tune - detailed information about the hard drive.
In general, there are at least as many similar utilities that can be cited. I think that these will be more than enough for most...
And lastly: do not forget to make backup copies, even if the disk condition is rated as 100% excellent (at least the most important and valuable data)!
Good luck...
How to find out what hard drive is on your computer
In most cases, the average person may need information about disk drive “C” when there are obvious problems with the operating system or there is a question about the need to replace it with a more capacious one. It is situations like these that force most users to look for an answer to the question of how to find out which hard drive is on the computer. In other cases, such a need does not arise. There is no particular difficulty here, and every user can easily do this if they know the order of performing simple actions.
What and what is it like?
The hard drive also has other names among users - hard drive, Hard Disk Drive or abbreviated HDD, screw. This is the name given to the part of the computer system unit that performs the functions of recording and rewriting information.
It is he who stores absolutely all the information, and file data of the operating system is no exception. If you install a program, then all information is saved on the hard drive, the same happens if files are written or copied on the computer.
HDD can be presented in two versions: external and built-in.
1. An external (portable or portable) hard drive is a removable structure, which is hidden in a special block for ease of transfer. They have different memory capacities and connection interfaces (USB 3.0 or 2.0).
2. The built-in (internal) hard drive is located directly in the operating unit of a personal computer or laptop. They differ in size: for a PC - 3.5 inches, and for a laptop - 2.5 inches.
All incoming information is generated on special magnetic disk drives; if you open the lid, it is clearly visible. But this kind of hard drive is gradually becoming a thing of the past, being replaced by a board. It is more functional and less susceptible to external damage, since it does not contain moving parts. In addition, they provide faster and quieter operation of the operating system. But the cost of such rigid boards is many times higher than magnetic ones.
How can I find out information about the hard drive on my computer?
For many users, it remains a mystery what kind of hard drive is on their computer. Yes, in fact, they don’t need to have this information. And if problems occur with the operating system, which in most cases indicates incorrect operation of the hard drive, then diagnostics are carried out by specialists. But there are often cases when, when talking about problems that have arisen, technicians are interested in this particular indicator of your PC. Diagnosing a Hard Disk Drive itself takes a lot of time, so such repairs can be done quickly and cannot be done at home.
So how to look at the hard drive on a computer? There are several options for obtaining this information. The easiest way to find out this data, which can be used on any computer, even a non-working one, is to remove the hard drive from the case of the system unit or laptop and get acquainted with the data that interests us. To do this, you need to turn off the power (remove the battery from the laptop), unscrew the (bottom) cover and take out the same hard drive.
If the computer can be turned on, then complete information about the installed hard drive can be obtained by using programs. But for each parameter you need to perform your own set of actions.
So, to find out the amount of Hard Disk Drive available on your computer, you need to right-click on the desktop icon or Start panel, “My Computer”. In the window that opens, select “Computer Management”. In the additional utility that opens, find and click on “Storage Devices”, the next step is to click “Disk Management”. The window will show the true amount of memory that your PC or laptop has on the hard drive. It will be designated as “Disk 0”. For convenience, manufacturers and users use numbers rounded to the nearest thousand when denoting this indicator. So, a volume of 40Gb corresponds to a real figure of 37.25 Gb, 60Gb – 55.88 Gb, 500 Gb – 465.65 Gb, etc.
Next to the available information about the amount of memory, there may be two more small windows. This means that your hard drive is divided into two or three logical volumes, where one, usually called “C”, will serve as the operating system storage, and the second “D” accumulates all the information saved by the user.
To find out what model of hard drive “C” you need to perform the following steps. We start with the same double click on the “My Computer” icon. Select "Computer Management". In the menu that opens, you need to find the “Device Manager” shortcut. In order to view the installed disk drives, you need to activate the “Disk devices” item. Complete information about the installed hard drives on your PC or laptop will open.
Special programs for testing hard drives
You can also find out which hard drive is installed on your personal computer or laptop using special programs. Some of these are the following:
EVEREST;
AIDA64;
HDD Scan.
This kind of program is designed not only to find out the brand and volume of the Hard Disk Drive, but also to scan it, find damaged sectors, assess the general condition of any drive, determine the maximum heating temperature, and battery consumption.
In order to do so, you need to download the program and run it on your PC. A menu usually appears in the window where we find and activate “Data Storage”; the utility opens a complete list of all storage devices on this PC: actual and logical, optical drives, Windows storage, etc. We are interested in the icon called “ATA” By clicking on which in the main window, full information about the hard drive opens: from the model to the search time indicators.
These are the main ways to find the necessary information about the installed Hard Disk Drive on your PC or laptop.
Today I will tell you how to find out the number of hard drives installed on our computer. This information will be useful to us when we talk about things like data backup.
As you know, there are often several volumes on a computer. For example, C and D. But in most cases, these are two logical drives on which the only physical drive installed on the computer is allocated.
But it also happens that there are several physical drives installed on a computer, each of which can be labeled with one letter or, in turn, can be divided into several local drives.
It would seem that it makes no difference whether it is a logical disk or a physical one. For the system, everything is the same.
For the system, of course, yes, but not for you and your hardware.
For example, you have a computer that has two disks - C and D (there may be much more of them, this is not significant). If you have one physical disk installed, partitioned into two logical volumes, then if the physical drive fails, all the logical volumes into which your disk is divided will become unavailable to you.
If volumes C and D are separate physical disks, then the failure of one volume does not damage the other.
So how can you determine the number of hard drives on your computer?
Everything is very simple. Click "Start" and right-click on "Computer". In the context menu that appears, select “Management”.
The following window will open:
Here you need to select the “Disk Management” section. The display will show information about the physical drives and the logical volumes to which they are allocated. The following illustration shows an example of one hard drive divided into two logical drives. There are also two hidden sections intended for system needs.
And here we see two hard drives at once:
Now you know how to determine the number of hard drives on your computer. If you are ready to move on, follow the publications.
