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The second quarter of 2023 hard drive storage research has concluded. Over the course of three months, Tools Software analyzed 336,058 hard drives from 207,797 users. This dataset comprised 205,889 solid-state drives (SSDs) and 130,169 hard disk drives (HDDs).
It appears that 71.97% of users have two or more disk drives, while only 28.02% have a single one. Also, 40.67% of HDD (Hard Disk Drive) users have high capacity drives, ranging from 512GB to 1TB. On the other hand, SSD (Solid State Drive) users tend to have smaller storage, with 55.26% having drives between 128GB to 512GB.
Feel free to share the disk status report online to help more friends and colleagues choose the appropriate disk size for their computer setups or optimizations:
In our quest to understand the reasons behind these trends, we have analyzed the data and delved deeper into aspects of hard disk storage. We will continue to monitor usage patterns across different systems with HDD and SSD as system drives, as well as factors like the size of the C partition. Along the way, we will share observations and insights from the data provided and offer constructive suggestions for any issues that may arise. You can download the report by clicking on this link: [Insert Download Link Here]
Download the "Tools Disk Drive Stats 2" report PDF Download the Tools Disk Drive Stats 2 report PDF
How many hard disk drives do people have in their personal computers?
According to our user survey, the majority of users have multiple disks. This includes 36.81% with two disks and 19.90% with three. This could suggest that users separate their data and systems across different drives, thus requiring more disks. Extra drives may also be used for data storage or to boost performance.
Moreover, some users might have more or fewer hard drives. We created a chart to show this more clearly:
According to our survey on hard disk usage, a considerable percentage of users, 28.02%, have only a single hard drive. For those with a single hard drive, it's crucial to pay extra attention to the health status of the drive and perform regular hard drive health checks to avoid potential data loss due to a failing drive. Thus, it's highly recommended that they back up important data.
Also, 15.26% of users have 4 or more hard drives, with more users having 4 hard drives than those with 5:
- 8.02% of users have four hard drives.
3.68% of users have five hard drives.
Users with multiple drives may be professionals who need extra disks for testing or for storing large amounts of data.
How many hard drives do you think your computer should have? You can share your thoughts on this article's summary and your perspective with your friends by clicking the buttons below.
What kind of disk capacity do I need?
Is 256 GB enough? According to statistics from disk-drive utility tools, we found that HDD and SSD users have different amounts of disk space in use. We broke down capacity usage for both types.
Analysis of User Hard Disk Usage
Most HDD users prefer storage capacity between 256GB to 1TB, with 40.67% of users having a capacity range of 512GB to 1TB. Due to their affordability, with a cost per GB ranging from $0.03 to $0.06, many users opt for HDDs for data storage or as large backup devices. Even in the high-capacity range of 1TB to 8TB, HDDs are chosen by 26.17% of users.
Here is a chart showing the distribution of various hard drive capacities among HDD users:
Analysis of User Usage of SSD Capacity
According to tool software statistics, most SSD users utilize capacity between 128GB to 512GB, which accounts for 55.26% of users. Despite the fast read and write speed and superior performance of SSDs, due to price factors, many users still opt for smaller capacity SSDs for single system or gaming drives. However, prolonged use of a small capacity SSD may lead to insufficient disk space issues. Users often need to expand or adjust partition sizes.
However, as SSD manufacturing technology advances, their prices have dropped year by year, making high-capacity SSDs more affordable. For users with a new platform or high-performance needs in daily use, it is recommended to purchase an SSD with a capacity of 512GB to 1TB. As shown in the chart below, 9.60% of users have chosen SSDs with a capacity of 1TB or higher.
These two pie charts show the distribution of disk space used by users:
- - 89.22% of HDD users have drives with a capacity greater than 256GB.
- 61.28% of SSD users have SSDs with a capacity above 256GB.
- Only 10.78% of HDD users and 38.72% of SSD users opt for drives with 256GB or less capacity.
From these disk-usage utilities, we can draw a few conclusions:
- If the hard drive is only used for the operating system, 256GB might be sufficient. However, for gaming, development, or data storage needs, 256GB would likely not be enough, whether it's a mechanical HDD or an SSD.
- A few users might find 256GB adequate, possibly because they have multiple hard drives or use their computer mainly for basic office work.
- For specific requirements and habits like loading large games or backing up considerable amounts of data, 256GB of storage would prove to be quite insufficient.
In truth, most users will find 256 GB insufficient, whether for an HDD or an SSD. Much of the capacity will be taken up by the operating system, downloaded software, and, in use, cache files, virtual memory, and configuration files. So, more storage is needed.
- For everyday office use, a 500GB-1TB hard drive is sufficient.
- For professional applications or large data storage, a 2TB or larger hard drive might be more appropriate.
Now you know how much storage is enough. Usually, 256 gigabytes is not enough. For daily work, you should have at least 500 gigabytes. If your friend is also wondering about storage size, click the share button to let them know!
"What type of system disk do you have? How big is the C drive?"
The computer's hard drive must include a system boot disk and a C drive for software downloads and installations. According to data on hard drives, 74.19% of users opt for an SSD as their system disk, with only 25.81% choosing a non-SSD drive.
Moreover, most C: drives, whether on an SSD or an HDD, tend to be in the range of 64 GB to 512 GB. Here is a deeper dive into both points:
There is greater use of SSDs as system disks, and less use of HDDs.
From our software, we can see that around three times more people use an SSD as their system disk than those who use an HDD. Why is this the case? It's time to examine the reliability and pros and cons of HDDs and SSDs. Here's a simple comparison of SSD vs HDD performance:
| Comparison | HDD | SATA SSD | NVMe/M.2 SSD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Read Speed | 80 MB/s-160MB/s | 500MB/s-550MB/s | 1500MB/s-7500MB/s |
| Write Speed | 80 MB/s-160MB/s | 400 MB/s-520MB/s | 1000 MB/s to 7000MB/s |
| Boot Time | 45 seconds - 4 minutes | 20 seconds | 10 seconds |
| Components | Platters, spindle, read/write arm | No moving parts | No moving parts |
As you can see, NVMe M.2 (Non-Volatile Memory express) reads and writes at speeds of 1000 to 7500 MB/s. Its effective write speed is over ten times that of a hard disk drive. Using an SSD as your system drive boosts your computer's performance and allows for faster boot-up times. Also, because an SSD has no moving parts, it's less likely to become damaged if dropped. In addition, SSDs are more reliable in extreme, hot, or cold conditions.
The typical range for a C drive partition is 64 GB to 512 GB.
Drive C is typically used as the system drive, where software is downloaded, system restore is executed, and files are updated. As one of the primary partitions of a computer's hard disk, its capacity usually ranges from 64GB to 512GB. However, analysis tools reveal some subtle differences between SSDs and HDDs in terms of their usage:
- - For SSDs, 79.98% of the capacity ranges from 64GB to 512GB, with the majority (33.17%) falling between 128GB and 256GB.
- For HDDs, 91% of the capacity lies between 64GB and 1TB, with the most (31.38%) in the 256GB to 512GB range.
- A small number of users have allocated less than 64GB for their C drive.
The following chart shows how it is distributed:
Normally, we recommend allocating at least 100GB for the C drive. For business users, the C drive should occupy 40% of the entire disk. Since the C drive is the default location for data storage, it saves the operating system and many personal files, such as documents and photos. Therefore, due to infrequent partitioning and system reasons, you may easily run out of space on C drive. A lack of space on the C drive can slow down the Windows operating system or prevent the installation of Windows updates.
The C drive is an essential disk on your computer that needs to be kept in good health. Share the button below to remind your friends to pay attention to their C drive space too!
What type of partition do people use on a hard drive?
After learning about the capacity occupied on the C drive, we will further investigate the partition type of the system partition.
Disk partition mainly refers to storing partition information on a disk, which mainly comes in two formats: MBR and GPT. According to statistics from disk management tools, the majority of users (57.41%) choose GPT as their system disk partition type, while 42.59% prefer MBR.
The partition type of the user disk is as follows: 
So why is the traditional MBR partition style being replaced by GPT? This is mainly due to limitations of MBR partitions.
There are limits to the number of partitions on an MBR disk, and it doesn't support disks larger than 2 TB. GPT, as a new partitioning scheme, has no such restrictions and supports much larger disks. Besides, GPT is backed by UEFI. If you replace the old BIOS with UEFI, GPT will take the place of the old MBR.
In a nutshell, GPT has advantages in partition size and quantity. Especially, Microsoft has officially announced that Windows 11 only supports GPT and UEFI. If you're considering upgrading Windows 10 to Windows 11, you might need to convert MBR to GPT without data loss in advance.
However, the choice between GPT and MBR partitioning depends on different circumstances:
- Disk size: If your hard drive is larger than 2 TB, choose the GUID Partition Table (GPT) partition scheme to take advantage of all the storage space.
- System age and motherboard support: If you have a newer computer with a motherboard that supports the UEFI firmware, like Windows 10 64-bit or Windows 11, as well as a 3 TB or larger hard drive, go with GPT.
- If you have an older motherboard using the legacy BIOS system, stick with MBR. For example, Windows 10 32-bit or older systems with hard drives 2 TB or smaller.
With this understanding, do you now have a clearer idea about choosing between GPT and MBR? If your friend is contemplating converting their disk partition, feel free to share our insights!
Which operating system do people prefer to have on their hard drives?
Currently, the mainstream computer operating systems are Windows, macOS, and Linux. In the Windows system, we find that most hard drives run either Windows 11 or Windows 10, with Windows 10 being particularly prevalent. During the investigation, utility software showed that 63.02% of users were utilizing the Windows 10 operating system. This includes:
- 51.31% of users are on Windows 10.
- 11.71% of users are on 64-bit Windows 10.
Other systems, such as Windows 7 and Windows 8, are losing share.
Despite its release in June 2021, Windows 11 still has a lower usage rate than the older Windows 10, which dominates the user base. As a newer system, Windows 11 is only utilized by 28.26% of users. Many might be adopting a wait-and-see approach with the newly introduced operating system.
However, its usage share has been gradually increasing, from 25.44% in Q1 2023. Users are likely upgrading to experience the improved performance it offers.
The gradual adoption of the new system also increases the need for disk management, such as converting MBR to GPT. While the new system has some advantages, not all systems can be upgraded to Windows 11. Users unsure if their current system or computer is compatible with the new OS can check the system requirements for Windows 11. If a device is not supported, it's advised not to attempt an upgrade to avoid system crashes or data loss.
For those unable to upgrade, there are still ways to optimize and improve the performance of their existing older systems. For instance, ensure enough space on the C drive, regularly clean system junk, add a new hard drive, or expand partition capacity. Additionally, it's crucial to check the health of your hard drive regularly.
Which Windows operating system do you like? Click to share your thoughts with your friends.
"Hard Drive Usage Summary and Recommendations for 2023"
Over 60% of users have grown accustomed to having two or more disk drives in their PCs. An analysis of how users employ their disks yields the following picture:
- - Users typically reserve capacity for the C drive between 64GB and 512GB, with approximately 40% to 60% having less than 256GB.
- Over 70% of users opt for an SSD as their system drive.
- More than 50% of users prefer using GPT for partitioning their system drive.
- Windows 11 and 10 have become dominant operating systems, demanding higher specifications from hard drives.
Based on the data we have gathered, we have identified some potential causes and issues, and we offer some sensible recommendations.
- Most users allocate less space for the C drive, which stores crucial content and often runs out of room. Thus, it's essential to assign sufficient space to the C drive during partitioning. You can then extend the C drive partition or regularly clean it up to ensure smooth system performance.
- Solid State Drives (SSDs) offer faster read and write speeds and better performance, so it's recommended to use an SSD as the system disk. Besides reinstalling the system, users can also migrate their OS from HDD to SSD to boost boot speed and overall computer performance.
- Due to limitations in MBR and the requirement for upgrading to Windows 11, more people are transitioning to GPT. Windows provides several methods to help users convert MBR to GPT.
- Many older systems like Windows 7 and 8 are becoming obsolete with the emergence of the new Windows 11. If you plan to upgrade, first ensure your computer's compatibility. Backing up your data allows you to upgrade without losing information. After the upgrade, promptly meet the new system's requirements, such as disk conversion.
This concludes our dive into the world of hard drive statistics for 2023. We hope the insights and efficient tips shared in this article have been helpful. If so, don't forget to share it with your friends who might also find it useful.