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Hard drive

Updated: 10/18/2022 by Computer Hope

Hard drive showing internals

A hard disk drive (sometimes abbreviated as a hard drive, HD, or HDD) is a non-volatile data storage
device. It is usually installed internally in a computer, attached directly to the disk controller of the
computer's motherboard. It contains one or more platters, housed inside of an air-sealed casing. Data is
written to the platters using a magnetic head, which moves rapidly over them as they spin.

Internal hard disks reside in a drive bay, connected to the motherboard using an ATA, SCSI, or SATA
cable. They are powered by a connection to the computer's PSU (power supply unit).

Examples of data stored on a computer's hard drive include the operating system, installed software,
and the user's personal files.

Why does a computer need a hard drive?

Can a computer work without a hard drive?

Hard drives in modern computers.

Hard drive components

How is a hard drive connected to a computer?

Where is the hard drive found in a computer?

What is stored on a hard drive?

What are the sizes of hard drives?

How is data read and stored on a hard drive?

External and internal hard drives.

HDD being replaced by SSD

History of the hard drive

Should I say "hard disk drive" or "hard drive"?

What is the history of the hard disk drive?

Related information

Hard drive help and support

Why does a computer need a hard drive?

A computer requires an operating system to allow users to interact with and use it. The operating
system interprets keyboard and mouse movements and allows for the use of software, like an Internet
browser, word processor, and video games. To install a computer operating system, a hard drive (or
another storage device) is required. The storage device provides the storage medium where the
operating system is installed and stored.

A hard drive is also required for the installation of any programs or other files you want to keep on your
computer. When downloading files to your computer, they are permanently stored on your hard drive
or another storage medium until they are moved or uninstalled.

Do all computers have hard drives?

In the past, earlier computers didn't have a hard drive because they were not yet invented or too
expensive. However, today almost all computers have a hard drive or a storage device that acts as a
hard drive. Computers used today that don't have a hard drive are known as diskless workstations and
are often found in work environments.

Can a computer work without a hard drive?

Without a hard drive, a computer can turn on and POST. Depending on how the BIOS is configured,
other bootable devices in the boot sequence are also checked for the necessary boot files. For example,
if the USB device is listed in your BIOS boot sequence, you can boot from a bootable USB flash drive in a
computer without a hard drive.

Examples of bootable flash drives include a Microsoft Windows installation disk, GParted Live, Ubuntu
Live, or UBCD. Some computers also support booting over a network with a PXE (preboot execution
environment).

Hard drives in modern computers

Modern computers often use an SSD (solid-state drive) as the primary storage device, instead of an
HDD. HDDs are slower than SSDs when reading and writing data, but offer greater storage capacity for
the price.

Although an HDD may still be used as a computer's primary storage, it's common for it to be installed as
a secondary disk drive. For example, the primary SSD may contain the operating system and installed
software, and a secondary HDD could store documents, downloads, and audio or video files.

Tip

New computer users may confuse RAM (memory) with their disk drive. Unlike an HDD or SSD, RAM is a
"volatile" data storage device, meaning it can store data only when the computer is powered on. See
our memory definition for a comparison between memory and disk storage.

Hard drive components

Inside a computer hard drive

As shown in the picture above, the desktop hard drive consists of the following components: the head
actuator, read/write actuator arm, read/write head, spindle, and platter. On the back of a hard drive is a
circuit board called the disk controller or interface board. This circuit is what allows the hard drive to
communicate with the computer.

How is a hard drive connected to a computer?

An internal hard drive connects to the computer using two means: a data cable (IDE, SATA, or SCSI) to
the motherboard and a power cable to the power supply.

How to install a hard drive or SSD.

Where is the hard drive found in a computer?

All primary computer hard drives are found inside a computer case and are attached to the computer
motherboard using an ATA, SCSI, or SATA cable. Hard drives are powered by a connection to the PSU
(power supply unit).

Note

Some portable and desktop computers may have newer flash drives that connect directly to the PCIe
interface or another interface and not use a cable.

What does the inside of a computer look like?

How to list files in a directory or folder on the computer.

What is stored on a hard drive?

A hard drive can store any data, including pictures, music, videos, text documents, and any files created
or downloaded. Also, hard drives store files for the operating system and software programs that run on
the computer.

What are the sizes of hard drives?

The hard drive is often capable of storing more data than any other drive, but its size can vary depending
on the type of drive and its age. Older hard drives had a storage size of several hundred MB (megabytes)
to several GB (gigabytes). Newer hard drives have a storage size of several hundred gigabytes to several
TB (terabytes). Each year, new and improved technology allows for increasing hard drive storage sizes.

How to find how much hard drive space is available.

How much is 1 byte, kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte, etc.?

Note
If you are trying to find the physical dimensions of a hard drive, their physical sizes are either 3.5" for
desktop computers or 2.5" for laptops. SSDs range from 1.8" to 5.25".

How is data read and stored on a hard drive?

Data sent to and read from the hard drive is interpreted by the disk controller. This device tells the hard
drive what to do and how to move its components. When the operating system needs to read or write
information, it examines the hard drive's FAT (File Allocation Table) to determine file location and
available write areas. Once that is determined, the disk controller instructs the actuator to move the
read/write arm and align the read/write head. Because files are often scattered throughout the platter,
the head needs to move to different locations to access all information.

Magnetic media hard drive head

All information saved and stored on a traditional hard drive, like the above example, is done
magnetically. After completing the above steps, if the computer needs to read information from the
hard drive, it would read the magnetic polarities on the platter. One side of the magnetic polarity is 0,
and the other is 1. Reading this as binary data, the computer can understand what the data is on the
platter. For the computer to write information to the platter, the read/write head aligns the magnetic
polarities, writing 0's and 1's that can be read later.

External and internal hard drives

Although most hard drives are internal, there are also stand-alone devices called external hard drives or
portable hard drives that backup data on computers and expand the available space. External drives are
often stored in an enclosure that helps protect the drive and allows it to interface with the computer,
usually over USB, eSATA, or FireWire. An excellent example of an external backup device that supports
multiple hard drives is the Drobo.

Adaptec laptop hard disk drive enclosure

External hard drives come in many shapes and sizes. Some are large, about the size of a book, while
others are about the size of a large smartphone. External hard drives can be very useful since they
usually offer more space than a jump drive and are still portable. The picture is an example of a laptop
hard disk drive enclosure from Adaptec. With this enclosure, the user installs a laptop hard drive of any
storage capacity into the enclosure and connect it via USB port to the computer.
How to connect and disconnect a computer external hard drive.

HDD being replaced by SSD

SSDs (solid-state drives) have started to replace HDDs (hard disk drives) because of the distinct
performance advantages they have over HDD, including faster access times and lower latency. While
SSDs are becoming popular, HDDs continue to be used in many desktop computers largely due to the
value per dollar that HDDs offer over SSDs. However, more and more laptops are beginning to utilize
SSD over HDD, helping to improve the reliability and stability of laptops.

Advantages of SSD over HDD.

History of the hard drive

The first hard drive was introduced to the market by IBM on September 13, 1956. The hard drive was
first used in the RAMAC 305 system, with a storage capacity of 5 MB and a cost of about $50,000
($10,000 per megabyte). The hard drive was built-in to the computer and was not removable.

In 1963, IBM developed the first removable hard drive, having a 2.6 MB storage capacity.

The first hard drive to have a storage capacity of one gigabyte was also developed by IBM in 1980. It
weighed 550-pounds and cost $40,000.

1983 marked the introduction of the first 3.5-inch size hard drive, developed by Rodime. It had a storage
capacity of 10 MB.

Seagate was the first company to introduce a 7200 RPM hard drive in 1992. Seagate also introduced the
first 10,000 RPM hard drive in 1996 and the first 15,000 RPM hard drive in 2000.

Computer hard drive history.

Should I say "hard disk drive" or "hard drive"?

Both "hard disk drive" and "hard drive" are correct and mean the same thing. However, we recommend
using the term "hard drive" in your writing or when describing a hard drive. The term "hard drive" helps
to distinguish it from an SSD (solid-state drive), which contains no platters, disk-shaped components, or
moving parts.

Related information

How to erase my hard drive and start over?

How to make sure all data is erased on a computer hard drive.

How to format a hard drive, SSD, or USB flash drive.

How to delete a partition in Windows.

A listing of computer hard drive manufacturers.

Hard drive help and support.

Computer data storage history.

Computer acronyms, Hard drive terms, Hardware terms, Hybrid hard drive, Storage device, VHD

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