Getting info on unbelievably large SSD cache disk

[DaveJ]

Awhile back a purchased a laptop with windows 8 and a Hitache 128gb hard drive - C: - and what I thought was a 24gb Kingston ssd drive - D:. It was not a super high end laptop, I think it was about $700.

But a year later now I notice that the properties of the SSD drive say it has about 257 GB of space! Only like 37MB is being used. I had sent the laptop in for a touchscreen repair, got it back, and I have this delusional fantasy that they decided to swap out my SSD with a super large one just to be 'nice' haha. But really, is it some sort of technical anomaly that explains why the SSD reports that it's to huge?

Is it really that large? I doubt it. Overall, is there anywhere I can see the settings for how this SSD caching thing works? I suppose it puts frequently used files on the disk, but I do not see anything there. Also, is it ok to put my own frequently used Visual Studio projects on there?

[Also] I have trouble getting extended info on the drive. It the properties dialog locks up when I open them, which might be related to installing the Windows 8.1 Preview, not sure. The drive itself might be causing these problems. I have not yet tried to update the driver.

[gvstn]

1. I don't have win8 so

Here is a list of ways to open Disk Management that will give you a look at what HD you have installed. http://www.softwareok.com/?seite=faq-Windows-8&faq=9

You want to look at the graph section. I suspect you will only have a Drive 0, which means you have some type of hybrid HD or more correctly a HD with a 24mb SSD cache that is managed by the OS for best performance.

Take a look under where it says drive 0 to get the full capacity of the drive. It sounds like it is larger than 160gb which is what your numbers add up to. You can also right-click the area where it says Drive 0 and select Properties. It should display the model number. Post that or google it and we should be able to determine what we are dealing with.

I suspect something like this: http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/notebook-clinic-77/curious-about-ssd-hdd-3851211.html is the basic idea of how this HD works.

[DaveJ]

2. Thanks, I'll take a look this evening.

The link with Windows 8.1 info looks very useful. I'm at work now so I'll take a look later.

It's weird that if this 24GB is supposed to be a cache, that it would show up as the D drive. I wonder if installing 8.1 might have messed something up. Since the update, it's locking up and requiring a hard reboot every couple hours.

[gvstn]

3. See what Disk Management says.

It is possible that the D: drive is your recovery drive and just by coincidence is 24gb.

On the other hand it could be an authentic hybrid drive where the SSD part is truly separate. I don't know much about them--as you can tell.

Maybe give the model of the laptop too so we can figure out what the original options were. Once we get the model of the HD and see if you only have a Drive 0 or also have a Drive 1 we ought to be able to come up with an idea of what is going on with a little research.

On the freezing in 8.1, I'm not sure what is going on. I would give it a couple of days and see if that becomes a common theme in forums discussing the update which might provide a solution.

[DaveJ]

4. Ok, I understand now

My mistake. The 257 GB was a partition of the main hard drive and the 24GB SSD is actually not visible in explorer. Everything makes sense now. I'm always a little oblivious to disk partitions. Thanks.

[gvstn]

5. I'm glad you got it sorted :)

I'm curious about how it shows in Disk Management just for my own enlightenment. If you don't mind...

Is there only a Drive 0 and what is the size of Drive 0? Then you have two partitions of what sizes?

Thanks!