How to check if both your hard drives are being used

[DrThots]

 

 

Here is a picture of my hard drives on the bottom right hand corner. They're both plugged in from what I can see and they both feel warm so Im assuming it's being used. Im not too sure if they're both HHD or just one of them is. 

Im running out of space and was wondering If i was only using one of my hard drives instead of two. Is there a way to check if both are being used? And how much storage is on EACH of them?

[Princess Luna]

Gee 2gb left on a 1tb HDD is not a picture I see often.

 

Any ways is the second HDD brand new? you probably just need to assign it a letter on Disk Management.

[DrThots]

21 minutes ago, Princess Cadence said:

Gee 2gb left on a 1tb HDD is not a picture I see often.

 

Any ways is the second HDD brand new? you probably just need to assign it a letter on Disk Management.

no it was installed together at the same time with the first one. The computer that I have currently was built from scratch by a friend 

[DrThots]

21 minutes ago, Princess Cadence said:

Gee 2gb left on a 1tb HDD is not a picture I see often.

 

Any ways is the second HDD brand new? you probably just need to assign it a letter on Disk Management.

 I had some help and i can see that the power and sata on both are connected

[Princess Luna]

Just now, DrThots said:

no it was installed together at the same time with the first one. The computer that I have currently was built from scratch by a friend 

So you have had a HDD sitting there doing nothing all this long? gee what a friend that couldn't even sign it a letter for you lol

[DrThots]

Just now, Princess Cadence said:

So you have had a HDD sitting there doing nothing all this long? gee what a friend that couldn't even sign it a letter for you lol

Im not too sure but here is a picture

[Princess Luna]

Yeah the second HDD is not being recognized by the system.

[DrThots]

Just now, Princess Cadence said:

Yeah the second HDD is not being recognized by the system.

BRUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Im so bad with computers.

[DrThots]

1 minute ago, Princess Cadence said:

Yeah the second HDD is not being recognized by the system.

Wait so how do i do it? and which one do i click on 

[Princess Luna]

Just now, DrThots said:

Wait so how do i do it? and which one do i click on 

On windows? nothing the system is not picking up the HDD at all, there's something wrong with it.

[DrThots]

2 minutes ago, Princess Cadence said:

On windows? nothing the system is not picking up the HDD at all, there's something wrong with it.

Well i remember when i first started up this pc i was asked to choose how much storage or something and i didnt know what to do so i just chose the biggest one

[SSD Sean]

The SATA cable from the second HDD is plugged into the motherboard? Try plugging it into another SATA port? 

[DrThots]

17 minutes ago, SSD Sean said:

The SATA cable from the second HDD is plugged into the motherboard? Try plugging it into another SATA port? 

Right i just checked. I have a 1 tb drive and a 500gb drive. Im getting 1tb so im assuming the 500gb is not working. The 500gb is the one that is chaining the power for the 1tb as well

[SSD Sean]

Sometimes the onboard SATA ports have different SATA controllers. You need to ensure all are enabled in the BIOS or change the SATA port the drive is connected to. Also, try changing the SATA power cable for the 500GB drive too. Otherwise, test the drive with an external enclosure/dock. 

[DrThots]

 

Just now, SSD Sean said:

Sometimes the onboard SATA ports have different SATA controllers. You need to ensure all are enabled in the BIOS or change the SATA port the drive is connected to. Also, try changing the SATA power cable for the 500GB drive too. Otherwise, test the drive with an external enclosure/dock. 

I only have 2 sata ports. I'll try and look up a tutorial and to see if both are enabled

[SSD Sean]

Really? That's a cheap mobo lol. There probably isn't another SATA controller. Try swapping the ports for each drive and see if you can still boot Windows. 

[DrThots]

1 minute ago, SSD Sean said:

Really? That's a cheap mobo lol. There probably isn't another SATA controller. Try swapping the ports for each drive and see if you can still boot Windows. 

This is my motherboard https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/z170a-gaming-m5.html . My storage is almost full. If I try to turn on my computer and my 1tb storage is not working and the 500gb is, what will happen? It seems my 500gb is not being recognised and my 1tb is

[SSD Sean]

1 minute ago, DrThots said:

This is my motherboard https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/z170a-gaming-m5.html

You have 6 SATA ports. The two SATA express ports are the same as 4 SATA ports. Plug your drive into one of those extra ports. 

[DrThots]

4 minutes ago, SSD Sean said:

You have 6 SATA ports. The two SATA express ports are the same as 4 SATA ports. Plug your drive into one of those extra ports. 

Do you know where it is located at from the pictures? Im not good with mb's, also do you have discord? It'd be a lot more reassuring for me to talk to you and its faster, if so here is mine DrThots #9549

[SSD Sean]

Directly below the two SATA ports you see already. Those big block connectors. It's in the manual as well if you want to give it a look, http://download.msi.com/archive/mnu_exe/E7977v1.0.zip

[DrThots]

49 minutes ago, SSD Sean said:

Directly below the two SATA ports you see already. Those big block connectors. It's in the manual as well if you want to give it a look, http://download.msi.com/archive/mnu_exe/E7977v1.0.zip

Alright I tried connecting it to another port and it is still not being recognised. Is it faulty?

[DrThots]

2 hours ago, Princess Cadence said:

On windows? nothing the system is not picking up the HDD at all, there's something wrong with it.

Can you have 2hdd's?

[SSD Sean]

3 hours ago, DrThots said:

Can you have 2hdd's?

Yes lol. Does it show in the UEFI/BIOS?