Finding out the details of your hard disk drive (HDD) is not exactly easy, as a lot of these configurations are hidden deep inside Windows and cannot be retrieved by conventional means. However, DHE Drive Info can pull those details in a matter of seconds and supports a huge list of HDDs.
Installation & Requirements
There is no setup required for the program. Just download the archive, extract the executable file in a folder of your choice and run it. The application supports Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7 and 8. Both x32 and x64 systems are fully supported.
Interface
The interface of the program has been designed in compliance with many other apps that collect and show system configuration details but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Information is shown in a clear way that does not obstruct them from view, even if you have to increase the box’s size a bit as some components might be hidden otherwise.
The top of the interface is reserved for the menu and any partitions you have in your computer. The partition for which the information is currently shown is marked by a green bar on its left side and you can easily change between them by clicking on their names. Navigation in the program is done entirely by the mouse so you better get used to it fast.
Most modern HDDs will allow you to view information on all of the program’s tabs but some older models will not support every feature. For example, S.M.A.R.T.details will not be present in every configuration and will definitely not be the same across all devices but that is far from the program’s fault. The program provides almost every possible way to collect details and show them to the user along with a few management utilities.
Those utilities can be found in the Control tab as the “Tools” menu offers different things. S.M.A.R.T.options like collecting data offline and self-testing are present and any option that is not supported by your HDD is greyed out to prevent any issues with your hardware. And in case you are wondering, the Tools menu offers a link to search for your HDD online automatically (using your default browser and search engine) and some additional information tools like the feature set of your hard drive, including the supported and enabled utilities.
As it should be obvious by now, technical knowledge of all involved terms is required to operate the program to its full capacity, although casual users will find some information like the temperature monitor very useful indeed. Reports can also be generated with ease, allowing less experienced users to ask the help of others or for the more advanced users to compare their configurations with other people online. There is a wealth of data available for users to enjoy here and scouting through everything will probably take a couple of hours, unless you skip through the more specific details.
Pros
-No installation required – tiny amount of resources required
-An abundance of information available in a few seconds
-Support for a huge number of devices
-Full support for S.M.A.R.T. systems
Cons
-Clunky interface
-Deep knowledge of HDDs required to understand most things on display
Conclusion
If you have ever wanted a solid tool to monitor your HDD, DHE Drive Info will be your program of choice for the years to come. The sheer amount of information that the program can provide you with is more than worth the less than 1MB download for sure.
