Hard disk drives (HDDs) rely on mechanical components to function. Over time, these parts can wear out or fail, directly affecting the drive’s lifespan.
On average, HDDs last between 3 to 5 years, though some may survive longer depending on usage and maintenance. If you’re unsure how old your hard drive is (whether it’s new, old, or previously used) there are a few ways to determine its approximate age.
How to tell how old your Hard Drive is?
To tell how old your hard drive is, you may use these methods:
- Check the manufacturer’s label
- Check the drive’s S.M.A.R.T. data
- Check warranty status on manufacturer’s website
Let us see this in detail.
1] Check the manufacturer’s label
This method involves physically inspecting your hard drive for a printed manufacturing date. Most hard drives have a label on top of them displaying their brand, model, manufacturing date, serial number, and other specifications. The manufacturing date gives an approximate idea of the drive’s age.
Shut down your PC and unplug it from the power source. Then open the case using a screwdriver. If you have a laptop, remove the back panel or hard drive compartment cover. Locate the hard drive and check the manufacturer’s label for the production date. Subtract this date from the current year to determine the age of your hard drive.
If the label doesn’t show a manufacturing date, you can use the serial number to check it on the manufacturer’s website.
2] Check the drive’s S.M.A.R.T. data
S.M.A.R.T. or Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology is a built-in feature in hard drives and SSDs that monitors the drive’s health, performance, and potential failures. If the HDD was installed on the system later or stored as a spare, its age can be estimated using Power-On Hours (POH), one of the attributes of the S.M.A.R.T. analysis.
You may use tools like CrystalDiskInfo for the S.M.A.R.T. analysis of your hard drive. Download and install CrystalDiskInfo. Open the software. It will display S.M.A.R.T. data for all detected drives. Look for ‘Power On Hours’ to know the total hours the drive has been running. Divide the number by 24 to estimate how many days/years the drive has been in use, or simply hover over the number.
3] Check warranty status on manufacturer’s website
If the drive is not very old, you may check its warranty status to determine its manufacturing date.
Check the manufacturer’s label on the hard drive or execute the following command in the Command Prompt to get the serial number:
wmic diskdrive get model,serialnumber
Then go to the manufacture’s website, enter the serial number in their warranty check tool, and click Submit. If the drive is still under warranty, you can estimate its manufacturing date based on the warranty start date. If it is out of warranty, the tool may still show the original warranty period, helping you determine the drive’s approximate age.
I hope you find this useful.
Read: Windows does not recognize second Hard Drive.
How to check the lifespan of a hard drive?
To determine the lifespan of a hard drive, use a third-party tool to analyze its S.M.A.R.T. data. This data provides key indicators, such as the total number of hours the drive has been powered on. However, this estimate may differ from the drive’s actual age, as it does not account for the time the drive was powered off, including weekends or periods of inactivity.
How to check the age of SSD?
To check the age of your SDD, right-click the Power button icon on your Windows 11/10 PC and select Device Manager. Go to Disk drives and right-click your drive’s name. Select Properties and go to the Details tab. Select ‘First install date’ from the dropdown. If this option is unavailable, you may check the drive’s power-on hours using tools like CrystalDiskInfo and estimate its age.
Read Next: Check up Hard Disk Health natively in Windows using WMIC.
