Buzz
When buying a used computer, it's crucial to check its components. If you're unsure whether your old laptop or desktop uses an HDD or SSD but don't want to open it up, refer to this guide to check without dismantling the machine.
To determine if your computer uses an HDD or SSD, follow these instructions:
Method 1: Manual Hard Drive Inspection on Windows
Step 1: Right-click on This PC/ My Computer => Manage.
Step 2: Choose the Disk Management tab (1) => right-click on the drive to be checked (2) => Properties (3).
Step 3: In the General tab, notice the highlighted line which is the code indicating whether the drive is an SSD or HDD. Remember or copy this code.
Step 4: Look up the drive code using Google. If the results match the image below, the drive mentioned in the article is a WD Green 240GB SSD.
Method 2: Checking if the Drive is SSD or HDD using Windows PowerShell
Step 1: Open the Start menu and launch Windows PowerShell.
Step 2: Type the following command and press Enter.
get-physicaldisk
After entering the command and pressing Enter, the computer will perform the check and display the results as shown below. If you see SSD or HDD in the MediaType section, that indicates the format of your drive. If it shows Unspecified, it means the drive is an older HDD model that hasn't been updated in the Windows 10 system.
Method 3: Using Optimize Drives Tool
Step 1: Open My computer/ This PC => right-click on any drive and select Properties.
Step 2: Select the Tool (1) => Optimize (2) option.
Step 3: In the Media type section, we can distinguish between SSDs and HDDs. If the drive has the code Solid State Drive, it means it's an SSD, and if it has the code Hard disk drive, it's an HDD.
Method 4: Checking if Your Computer Uses SSD or HDD with Piriform Speccy Software
Step 1: Go to https://www.ccleaner.com/speccy and download the Speccy software.
Afterward, install the software and wait for it to scan the hardware specifications of your computer.
Step 2: Navigate to the Storage (1) section. Here, we have information about the storage drives on the computer listed in the adjacent section (2). If it's an SSD, we'll see 'SSD' next to it.
For drives with unclear information, you can search the code on Google. Try clicking on the drive name as shown below, and we'll find the line Form Factor: 3.5 inch, indicating a 3.5-inch HDD for desktop computers.
With the guidance on checking if your computer uses SSD or HDD in this article, we can easily determine the type of drive installed on your computer without having to open it up. Best of luck to all!
