How to check laptop hard drive is SSD or HDD? How is SSD different from HDD? What kind of hard drive should I use? If you are wondering about this issue, do not rush to skip this article. HC will share the most details with you!
1. What is SSD, HDD?
A hard drive is a device that stores data in a computer. laptop. There are 2 popular types of hard drives: SSD & HDD
HDD Hard Drive:
– Is the abbreviation for Hard Disk Driver
– Traditional hard drive, operating on the principle of:
+ Aluminum/glass/ceramic round disc coated with magnetic material
+ The middle of the drive has a rotating motor to read / write data
+ The board combines the drive & the motor, controlling the read / write head to the correct position of the disc from the time of rotation to decode the information
SSD hard drives:
– Is the abbreviation of Solid-State Driver
– As a solid-state drive, the function is similar to HDD, but instead of coating a magnetic layer on the surface of the hard disk, the data will be stored on a flash memory chip. They work together & retain data even when the drive is not powered.
2. Compare SSD and HDD
| Comparative Criteria | SSD | HDD |
| – Storage capacity | + SSDs usually have small capacity with expensive prices | + HDD has a large capacity (can be up to Terabyte) but the price is not too high. |
| – Data read/write speed | + SSD has the ability to read / write data much superior to HDD. If the speed of the HDD is only 200MB/s, then the SSD can go up to 500MB/s. | + HDD is easily fragmented, making the machine work slowly. SSD has Flash Chip, works right at startup, so it has fast access speed, less fragmentation |
| – Form | + SSD: various sizes and shapes | + HDD: there are 02 standard sizes of 2.5 & 3.5 inches |
| – Reliability | + SSD has better durability, easy repair | + HDD has a mechanical structure, easily damaged by physical agents; difficult repair |
| – Noise level | + SSD works smoother and “silent” than HDD | + HDD is not “impressed” by SSD |
| – Data fragmentation | + SSD does not defragment data | + HDD is easy to fragment, but this situation will not appear on SSD |
| – Power consumption | + Consumes less power than HDD | + HDD consumes more power than SSD |
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3. How to check laptop hard drive is SSD or HDD
You can check if your computer is using an SSD or an HDD in the following ways:
– Check with Defragment and Optimize Drives
– Use PowerShell feature
– Using software CrystalDiskInfo
– View hard drive information using Device Manager
Here, HC will guide you on how to implement each option in detail.
3.1. Check hard drive information with Defragment and Optimize Drives
– Step 1: Click on Start Menu in the toolbar or press the Windows key -> Type “Optimize” in the search box -> Select Defragment and Optimize Drives
– Step 2: In the window Optimize Drives -> Check the hard drive information in the column Media type
+ Hard disk driver = HDD
+ Solid state driver = SSD
This is the way check laptop hard drive is SSD or HDD extremely simple, fast with high accuracy. However, with Defragment and Optimize Drives, you cannot view more detailed information about the machine’s hard drive such as capacity, temperature, hard drive status, ..
3.2. Use PowerShell to view hard drive information
Compared to using Defragment and Optimize Drives, this method also gives you accurate information about the type of hard drive your laptop is using with simple and quick operation. However, you also cannot see other information about the hard drive such as temperature, drive status, ..
How to view laptop hard drive using PowerShell:
– Step 1: Press the Windows shortcut or click Start Menu on the Taskbar -> Type in the search box “PowerShell”
– Step 2: Right click on PowerShell -> Select Run as Administrator (Run with admin rights)
– Step 3: Enter the code”Get-PhysicalDisk” on Windows PowerShell window -> Press Enter
– Step 4: At this time, information about the hard drive will appear on the column MediaType
3.3. View hard drive information using Device Manager
Another way to view laptop hard drive information from the settings on Windows itself. To check hard drive information, follow these steps:
– Step 1: Open the Device Manager dialog box
+ With Windows 10: Press the key combination “Windows + X” -> Select Device Manager
+ With Windows 7, 8: Press the Windows key or click Start menu -> Type “Device Manager” on the search bar -> OK
– Step 2: View hard drive information
+ Double click on Disk drivers
+ Copy the hard drive name to Google to know if they are HDD or SSD
3.4. Check laptop hard drive is SSD or HDD with CrystalDiskInfo
Compared to the above 3 ways, CrystalDiskInfo gives you more detailed information about the hard drive:
– Hard drive status (good or not, warnings, ..)
– Hard drive operating temperature
– Spin speed
– V..v..
To use CrystalDiskInfo to check hard drive information, do the following:
Step 1: Download CrystalDiskInfo software to your laptop
Download link: https://crystalmark.info/en/software/crystaldiskinfo/
Step 2: Check the hard drive type
– Method 1: Look at the rotation speed index
+ If this item shows 7200 or 5400: your laptop uses HDD
+ Opposite: use SSD drive
– Method 2: Check the hard drive name
+ The name of the hard drive used for the machine is displayed at the top
+ Copy the exact drive name -> search on Google to see if they are SSD or HDD
3.5. Check the hard drive on Macbook
– Step 1: Choose Apple menu -> choose About this Mac
– Step 2: Choose System Report (in the Overview tab)
– Step 3: Choose Storage (left column) to see all information about the hard drive used for Macbook (Medium Type section)
Note: Some Macbook lines will use Fusion Drive (hybrid between SSD & HDD)
Here are the ways check laptop hard drive is SSD or HDD most detailed. Hope the article will be useful to you.
TechtipsNReview.com
Source: Summary of 5 ways to check if your laptop’s hard drive is SSD or HDD
– TechtipsnReview
