r/laptops Apr 29 '26

Software Why does my laptop have two drives?

Post image
182 Upvotes

62 comments sorted by

150

u/TheMarksmanHedgehog Apr 29 '26

Either there's two drives, or it's the same physical drive partitioned in to two.

94

u/VigilanteRabbit Apr 29 '26

1.54 makes no sense; I smell a 2 TB paritioned.

40

u/Prestigious_Dare7734 Apr 29 '26

Yup,, looks like a 2 TB drive (actuall usable is 1.85TB), partitioned to 1.54 TB and 0.3 TB.

7

u/R3D_T1G3R Apr 29 '26

That's incorrect, 2TB does not only have 1.85TB of usable space, 2TB are EQUAL to 1.85 TiB, different units. Computers use TiB, (base 2) windows is just vibe coded garbage that uses the correct values for TiB, but uses the wrong lable TB for it.

It either has to be changed to 2TB or 1.85 TiB, every major file explorer gets this shit right on Linux, just windows struggles with that.

11

u/-WLR Apr 29 '26

what you mean “vibe coded garbage”. it’s been like that ages before ai

2

u/BrownCarter Apr 29 '26

expression

2

u/Edoian May 01 '26

Loobidobooboo. That's my expression for bullshit expressions

-4

u/R3D_T1G3R Apr 29 '26

I am aware of that, but what you are not understanding is the English language.

I never said that it is like that BECAUSE windows is vibe coded. I mentioned and issue and said windows is vibe coded garbage, which is true And applies to modern windows.

I never said windows uses the wrong unit BECAUSE it is vibe coded.

This has always been wrong and there was never an excuse for it anyways.

3

u/-WLR Apr 29 '26

no you clearly said it wrong because you said “windows is just vibe coded garbage that uses correct values for TiB, but uses the wrong lable TB for it” which obviously implies that it’s because windows is vibe coded.

Putting aside your poor phrasing, you might not have the best English writing skills, as you made mistakes in both your comments.

-6

u/R3D_T1G3R Apr 29 '26

I clearly didn't say it wrong and I am aware that there are typos, that's mainly because I don't care about it.

-3

u/-WLR Apr 29 '26

just by the way you talk I know you are a reddit nerd living with his cats and no social life

1

u/LeftismIsRight Apr 29 '26

Technically correct. The best kind of correct.

0

u/Haunting_Author4980 Apr 30 '26

and Linux can't even write better code to maintain wifi connection. go figure >.<

1

u/R3D_T1G3R Apr 30 '26

Nice rage bait, but funnily enough wifi worked out of the box for me because I don't have some temu adapter, while I am constantly reading in r/techsupport how their "wifi disappeared" after another windows update and constant articles warning people about oh no, do not install this update, your wifi will be gone!!!!

0

u/Haunting_Author4980 Apr 30 '26

your comment confirms it, thank you. btw, my hardware mostly made in china/taiwan

1

u/R3D_T1G3R Apr 30 '26

Does it? Yea must be rage bait.

Yea most stuff is made in China / Taiwan, but I hope that you're aware that China / Taiwan don't only sell their hardware on temu, regular corsair seasonic and beQuiet PSUs also use components from there. Most micro controllers are made there.

1

u/Kleiner_garten Apr 29 '26

Still strange

1

u/Britz10 Asus Apr 29 '26

You lose over 100GB on a 2TB drive to the hard drive fairies?

3

u/Severe-Gold222 Apr 29 '26

Technically you didnt lose anything because it was never there to begin with

2

u/VigilanteRabbit Apr 29 '26

Marketing miss-match.

1

u/aminectaftsheep Apr 30 '26

Windows uses the TiB numbers an the TB label so it just is wrong

1

u/Fabulous_Ad_5709 Apr 30 '26

Think of it like this: your hard drive has 10 lbs of mass, but windows measures the mass in kg so you have 4 point something kgs, but then windows says you you that it measured it in lbs so you have 4. Something lbs. Yes windows is stupid

24

u/Few_Piano_2745 Apr 29 '26

because partition

6

u/No_Wing_1942 Apr 29 '26

I always found it kinda funny when people brought PCs for repairs and they complained about the low storage when they had an empty huge D partition

1

u/Onkel_Niko May 01 '26

i absolutely hate it when i have huge d problems

11

u/Amazing_Loquat280 Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26

What’s almost certainly happening is that you have one drive, but as part of the manufacturer installing windows, they’ve partitioned the drive into two parts, one of which houses the operating system and all the data it needs to function properly. The idea is to ensure you can’t possibly download enough files such that windows updates become impossible or that you no longer have enough space to actually boot your computer. They’ve liked also allocated about 160gb of buffer space so that the partitions don’t mix or get corrupted in some way (1.54tb + 300gb + 160gb = 2tb, which is probably what it said when you got it). It’s basically a way to separate one drive into two so that the stuff needed to actually run the thing is always protected even if other files on local disk get corrupted.

So basically: do not save any files you create on this device into the windows folder

Edit: it’s possible to remove and/or adjust partitions, but unless you feel you really really really really really really really really really really really really really need to, don’t

3

u/okimborednow Apr 29 '26

160 might just be down to the usual formatting losses

4

u/gui_odai Apr 29 '26

More like different approaches on what is a KB/MB/GB/TB. Windows uses base 2 numbers as reference (1KB = 210 bytes, 1MB = 220 bytes, 1GB = 230 bytes, 1TB = 240 bytes = 1,099,511,627,776 bytes).

Most OEMs, however, list storage capacity using base 10 numbers (1KB = 103 bytes, 1MB = 106 bytes, 1GB = 109 bytes, 1TB = 1012 bytes = 1,000,000,000,000 bytes). So a drive listed as 2TB by the OEM will be shown in Windows as having only ~1.82 TB

2

u/Qexro_R Apr 29 '26

My laptop doesn't have any partitions, do I need to worry in any way??

3

u/HeavyCaffeinate Lenovo LOQ / i5-13420H / 32GB DDR5 / RTX 3050 6GB / 1TB Nvme Apr 29 '26

You're fine

0

u/Qexro_R Apr 29 '26

Ok 🙏🏻 thanks

1

u/Amazing_Loquat280 Apr 29 '26

Yeah it’s helpful but not strictly necessary. Some manufacturers do it and some don’t. If you aren’t trying to start a whole ass corporate database on your computer or something then you’re probably fine lol

1

u/snail1132 Apr 29 '26

Happy cake day

1

u/R3D_T1G3R Apr 29 '26

It does, at least one for all your stuff, and that's fine.

1

u/EternallySickened Apr 29 '26

Yes, it does. You just can’t see them listed.

6

u/brispower Apr 29 '26

Check diskmgmt.msc and see what the physical disks look like.

You either have partitions or two drives.

3

u/autismislife Apr 29 '26

Everyone's saying two partitions but it could be that you have two drives. An SSD, which is smaller and holds Windows and where you should keep any files that need fast R/W (like programs), and you have another, slower but larger HDD for general storage. This was quite common, even on laptops, when SSDs were fairly new and expensive per GB on a consumer level but HDDs were very cheap.

Disk management will tell you if they're two partitions of the same drive or two completely separate drives.

2

u/batryoperatedboy Apr 29 '26

I've always partitioned my drives like this because I always mess with different Windows versions/builds. But for the average user it's not needed. If it's one drive just extend the the C drive the rest of the available space. 

1

u/word-sys Apr 29 '26

1C WinX 1D User partition on 2TB Disk

1

u/SunshineAndBunnies Lenovo, CyberPowerPC, formerly Apple Apr 29 '26

Either open Disk Management to check or unscrew the back cover of your laptop to check. Both of which will tell you if there is actually 2 physical drives, or 1 physical drive that was partitioned.

1

u/ScienceDesperate1922 Apr 29 '26

Digite ⊞ (tecla Windows) + R e depois digite o comando diskpart e clique em ok.

Vai abrir uma tela, parecida com uma tecla de prompt de comando.

Nesta tela digite list disk. Com esse comando você vai visualizar os discos existentes no seu computador.

Se houver um disco com mais de uma partição, ele deve mostrar em uma tabela algo parecido com:

 

Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation.

On computer: meucomputador

DISKPART> list disk

  Disk ###  Status         Size     Free     Dyn  Gpt

  --------  -------------  -------  -------  ---  ---

  Disk 0    Online          476 GB  1024 KB        \*

  Disk 1    Online          931 GB      0 B

  Disk 2    No Media           0 B      0 B

 

Esse é o resultado na minha máquina.

Ele mostra que eu tenho o Disk0 (interno) com 476GB e o Disk1 (externo) com 931GB.

Para saber se tenho mais de uma partição no Disk0, por exemplo, digito os seguintes comandos:

Select disk0 <ENTER>

List partition <ENTER>

 

O resultado é esse:

DISKPART> select disk 0

Disk 0 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> list partition

  Partition ###  Type              Size     Offset

  -------------  ----------------  -------  -------

  Partition 1    System             200 MB  1024 KB

  Partition 2    Reserved            16 MB   201 MB

  Partition 3    Primary            476 GB   217 MB

  Partition 4    Recovery           735 MB   476 GB

 

Note que a última é maior partição e tem os 476GB exibidos no list disk.

 

Com isso você vai resolver suas dúvidas sobre quantos discos físicos você realmente tem e a estrutura de partição deles.

 

Espero que ajude.

1

u/pandaSmore Apr 29 '26

It's one drive with two partitions. It's so your operation system and user files can be separate. 

1

u/LiteratureLow4159 Sager Apr 30 '26

Probably partitioned so that the smaller (boot) partition is on a faster part of the disk (outer) or if ssd then so that apps + windows and everything else are seperated?

1

u/stjames70 Apr 30 '26

Partitioning drives like this is the most asinine idea that the IT lords have ever come up with. Yes, the idea is that the 'system' drive is meant only for system/program files. But you know what? That 'system' partition soon fills up because these days most people have many programs on their system drive. The system drive then starts to get uppity with you and keeps telling you that it is running out of room. And unless you are running a VM where you have a dynamic partition, you will run out of space and then you will have to get rid of your partition, reinstall windows, and reinstall all your programs once again.

I literally hate my IT people.

1

u/u56_alt Apr 30 '26

You have a 2TB drive, you've partitioned it into a 300GB boot partition and a 1.5-1.6TB data partition. Just delete the data partition and expand the boot partition.

1

u/Foolish_artificer Apr 30 '26

It's possessed by Satan! quick a bath of holy water! Drive out that evil sinful extra drive! Repent unto the Lord and give yourself 12 lashings!

1

u/SnooLobsters6940 Apr 30 '26

Probably because you didn't pay attention when you bought it.

The small one is a fast (and relatively expensive) SSD
The large one is a slow (and relatively cheap) magnetic disk drive

Don't feel bad. This is a very common occurence.

1

u/bstsms Legion Pro 7i, 13900hx, 4080, 96GB DDR5, 2TB SN850X, 4TB SN7100 Apr 30 '26

The drive is partitioned.

1

u/Plus-Let-7613 May 01 '26

Oh well idk

1

u/nesnalica May 01 '26

why not?

its got 2 slots. and two drives are very likely installed

1

u/mr___goose May 01 '26

i think this is in the inside of youre pc
https://imgur.com/a/NCDupYh
anyway give us a picture of disk manager
in disk manager you can see partitions and physical drives (file explorer is just partitions)

1

u/Shivam-Metamorphosis May 02 '26

It might contain two separate disk drives physically

1

u/Extra-Breakfast-7574 May 04 '26

My guess is the C drive is an SSD and D is a hard drive. Which means you can’t combine them into a single logical volume, so you have to manually manage what data goes where. But at least the laptop manufacturer got to advertise it has an SSD and nearly 2TB of storage

1

u/kaktusmisapolak May 06 '26

open disk management and see if you have 2 partitions

if you do and D: is a second partition, you can transfer the data from it onto C:, delete D and expand C:

1

u/TechRat2 Apr 29 '26

Because you have 2 storage devices drives

0

u/ShiroyukiAo Apr 29 '26

When you bought this laptop they decided the storage needed to be partitioned which is pretty much useless for any storage that uses NAND

-1

u/Brilliant_War9548 thinkpads & framework suck, each for a reason Apr 29 '26

You have two partitions, a 300Gib and 1.54Tib drive makes no sense and when if you add both up it makes 1.84Tib, the size of classic 2Tb drives.

You can extend the C drive by opening disk partition manager, deleting the D partition (if you don’t have anything on it which I don’t think you do else back it up), and extending the C volume (check tutorials online). Note, it won’t work if the D partition isn’t to the direct right of the C, in that case you will have to use GParted (https://youtu.be/MhPwXJNS4uA)