A hard drive or hard drive is one of the main components of any computer - stationary or mobile. It is on it that the operating system is installed, all data, files and games are stored there. Without it, the computer will never start its work, so it is important to know where the hard drive is located in the computer, how to recognize it in the system.
The location of the hard drive in the system unit
If you do not build the computer yourself, then the question may well arise: “Where is the hard drive in the computer? In order to find out, you need a pair of eyes and a screwdriver.
First, get rid of the side panel of the computer, which is removed after removing the bolts. You need to move it gently, slightly pressing and holding on the recess on the panel itself. Almost all cases are made to the same standard, so the panel slides toward the back of the case.
After that, you can see the entire "stuffing" of the computer, and where is the hard drive, including. You can notice that two cables depart from it, one of which is responsible for powering the hard drive, and the other connects to the motherboard and the entire system as a whole. Where is the hard drive in the computer? See photo above.
The location of the hard drive in the system
If physically it is already known where the hard drive is located in the computer, then it remains to find it in the system itself.
To begin with, it is worth opening the “My Computer” window, it is sometimes also called “This Computer” (it depends on the operating system). It immediately shows the presence of two disks - C and D. The first disk stores all system information, including the operating system, and the second disk contains secondary data, for example, movies, music, and sometimes games.
When the hard disk is formatted, only data from drive C is deleted, and the information on the other drive is not affected.
So, by right-clicking on any of the disks, you need to select the "Properties" option. After that, a window opens with the available properties of the selected disk. Choosing the “Hardware” tab, you will notice that it displays or displays all the drives that are currently available.
You can see only the name of the model and nothing more, but if you need to not only find out where the hard drive is located in the computer, but also its status, you should install Crystal Disc, which displays the data and the general state of the hard drive.
In the case when you need to find out how much is occupied, or how much free space is available, you should open the "My Computer" window. It displays all available disks and the remaining space on them, as well as how much is currently occupied.
Connect a second hard drive
Often there are times that the release of new games or movies in high quality forces you to purchase a new drive, that is, a hard drive. The speed of installing and recognizing it in the system may take a different amount of time, depending on the novelty of the motherboard and the skills of the user himself.
So, it's time to find out where to find the hard drive in the computer using the BIOS program. First you need to make sure that the equipment you are looking for is correctly installed and connected to the motherboard. The condition of the hard drive itself is also important, since if it was bought at a thrift store, that is, it was already in use, then it is worth checking its serviceability at the place of purchase.
To get to the BIOS menu, you need to immediately and repeatedly press one of the two buttons after restarting the computer: F2 or Del. Which one - depends only on the motherboard. When the desired menu appears, you need to select the Advanced line, where the configuration settings, sometimes called Configuration, will become available. It is in the configurations that there is a controller line where you need to change the Disabled value to the Enabled value. After that, the computer restarts and the manipulation is repeated to enter the BIOS menu. After that, you can see the appearance of a second hard drive. Thus, using the BIOS program, you can find out where to see the hard drive in the computer.
The program for checking the hard disk Crystal Disk info
One of the most popular programs for assessing the status of a hard disk is Crystal Disk info, which has not only a clear menu, but also support for the Russian language.
This program demonstrates a full description of the technical characteristics of the hard drive. Here you can measure the current temperature of the device, find out the number of starts, the total operating time, rotation speed and so on. Based on the data presented, the program makes a conclusion on the technical condition of the hard drive.
The program for measuring the parameters of the hard drive Crystal Disk Mark
This utility is also very popular among users who purchase goods through online stores and from the “hands”. Since it supports all types of drives, including solid state drives, it is able to use a wide variety of algorithms to capture real data.
Thanks to this program, you can, for example, find out what the real read / write speed of any hard drive is.