Check Drive Type in Windows OS
This article is written specifically to identify the media drive type. In other words, how do you check drive type in Windows operating system?
Drive type means that your system is using HDD (Hard disk drive) or SSD (Solid-state drive). We cannot think of a computer without a storage drive.
HDD or SSD is basically a storage drive, which is one of the major parts of computer components. It plays an important role in your desktop or in a laptop.
[Read: Major Computer Components with Images and their Functions]
A computer machine requires a space where an operating system can be installed.
The operating system can be any like Windows, MacOS, Linux, etc. They all need storage.
Once the operating system is installed, you can access a number of features of it. Along with that, you can save your files and folders, videos and music files, documents, etc. into the storage drive which is a hard drive.
Difference Between HDD and SSD
Just to clarify, what HDD and SSD are? You should know the difference between HDD and SSD before you get to know your system drive type:
HDD – A hard disk drives are a physical component of computer assembly and a storage drive, also known as hard disk or hard drive. It is directly connected to the Motherboard using cables such as ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) or SATA (serial AT attachment)
The hard disk contains platters inside it with an air sealed casing. It has a magnetic head, which keeps moving rapidly and data is written to the platters using a magnetic head.
SSD – A Solid-state drive is also a storage drive such as HDD. It is small in size, uses chips and has no moving platters or elements.
This provides an advantage, which makes it faster, low power consumption, reliable and noiseless function. SSD also uses SATA cable to connect directly to the system motherboard.
How to Find If Your Drive is HDD or SSD?
Here are the four different methods by which you can easily check whether your drive type is HDD or SSD:
Method 1. Using Disk Defragmenter
- Press the Keyboard combination Win + R to open the Run Dialog box
- Type dfrgui and hit the Enter button or click OK. This will launch Optimize Drives window
- Under Status, check Media type is Hard disk drive or Solid-state drive
In my case, it is a hard disk drive. Check out the image below:
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- Press Win + R to open the Run Dialog box
- Type msinfo32 and hit Enter or click OK
- In the system Information utility window, navigate to Components –> Storage –> Disks
- From the right pane, look for Media Type. In my case, it is shown as Fixed hard drive.
Fixed hard drive means HDD (Hard disk drive)
Method 3. Check on Windows PowerShell
- Go to Windows Search and type, PowerShell
- Right-click and select Run as administrator
- Type or copy and paste the command given below into PowerShell. Then, hit Enter and wait for the result.
Get-PhysicalDisk
- Check for Media Type to see the disk drive type of your system. In my case, it’s the HDD.
Method 4. With the Help of Windows Task Manager
- Open your Windows Task Manager
- Click on the Performance tab
- Select Disk from the left pane
Check disk information from the right and you will find the drive type of your system and related information.
[Read: Open Windows Task Manager with 9 Different Ways]
Hence, above all are very easy methods to check what drive you have on your Windows computer. Any of the given methods will help you to determine if the type of your hard drive is HDD or SSD.
For any query or feedback, comment below.
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