In some cases, to determine the size of a hard disk, just look at its properties in Windows Explorer. But if you are faced with the task of finding out the capacity of a hard drive that is not connected to a computer, you should use special devices.
Instructions
Step 1
If you are wondering about the hard disk space on the desktop or laptop you are using, click on the "My Computer" icon on your desktop to open Windows Explorer. This window can be opened in another way. Hover over the Start button, right-click and select Open Explorer (or File Explorer) from the menu.
Step 2
In the window that opens, you will see one or more icons labeled "local drive" (C, D, E, etc.), as well as drive icons. The latter are not of interest to you, since they have nothing to do with the hard drive. The drive itself can be "split" into several partitions, in which case you will need to add the sizes of each of them to find out the total hard drive capacity. If there is only one local disk, it is even easier - just find out its capacity.
Step 3
To do this, right-click on the local disk icon and select Properties from the context menu. On the "General" tab in the "Capacity" section, you will see data on the size of the hard drive. However, remember that its actual volume will always be less than the data indicated by the manufacturer. So, for example, with the declared size of 500 gigabytes, the actual disk capacity will be only 452 gigabytes.
Step 4
To find out the volume of a disk that is not connected to the computer, you should use the box for connecting hard drives via a USB connector. Since the disks come in different sizes and have different interface connectors, the box for connecting the hard drive should be selected based on its parameters. If the disk is suitable in size and interface to the existing cable with an additional connector, connect the hard disk to it after opening the system unit and turning off the power supply. After successfully connecting to the computer, find out the disk capacity using the above method.
