CCleaner confuses HDD with SSD

[crimle]

I am using CCleaner > Drive-Wiper in order to securely delete external hard disks. Each time I plug in an external USB harddisk, CCleaner persistently wants to stop me from erasing this device. It claims that the plugged in device is an SSD, but in fact it is not. It is a SATA harddisk. CCleaner seems to be unable to distinct between HDD and SSD. Is that so?

Thank you and kind regards
Chris

[nukecad]

AFAIK CCleaner gets this info from somewhere in Windows, I don't know just where from. (I think it may be something to do with what disc driver is being used).

So it that part of Windows thinks it's an SSD then CCleaner will also think it's an SSD.

It's been an ongoing issue for a while, especially with Windows 10.
It seems to be a Windows problem so there is little that CCleaner can do about it.

However you should still be able to do a one pass wipe using Drive wiper even if it thinks that it is an SSD.
And one pass is sufficient, any more is overkill.

See this thread, where the originators HDD was also being seen as an SDD so he could only do a one pass wipe.
Andavari's uninstall CCleaner, restart Windows, Reinstall CCleaner, may be worth a try to see if it can get the disc recognised correctly.
https://community.ccleaner.com/topic/59412-ccleaner-drive-wipe-lets-me-only-do-1-pass/?tab=comments#comment-324449

[hazelnut]

If you are using Windows 10 open Task Manager.

Click on Performance Tab.

Then look at Disc in the list to see what Windows thinks it is.

[nukecad]

The thing is I have seen different parts/ tools of Windows report the same disc as different types.

I've not been able to work out why, but I do suspect that it's something to do with the driver associated with the disc.

I also suspect it may be differences in the old Control Panel and the newer Settings? If so it will continue to be an issue until the CP is eventually depricated.

[crimle]

Oh yes it's true: Windows thinks it is an SSD too. So CCleaner seems to blindly accept the information from Windows. By the way: the tool HWINFO does not rely on Windows but provides to correct disk type information. Ok, I can cope with it. But it would be a nice feature for a future version of CCleaner, wouldn't it?

Thank you and kind regards
Chris

[nukecad]

Yes it would be nice if CCleaner (and defraggler, and Speccy) could interrogate the disc to double check what type it is.

But TBH you should be able to rely on Windows to do that for you and get it right. That's why Windows provides logs/databases in the OS - so you can easily query Windows without writing reams of code to check for yourself.

Programmes would get bigger/slower if they all had to check everything for themselves.

[Andavari]

Windows 10 gets things wrong itself, I've had it detect a 64GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive formatted as NTFS file system as an HDD. That's entirely Windows 10 own fault for not allowing FAT32 on USB Flash Drives over 32GB (although it's a very easy workaround using 3rd party format and 3rd party partitioning tools).

[hazelnut]

Open command prompt (you must right-click run as admin) and run 

winsat formal  (then press enter)

This will run a Windows Performance test which will re-assess and reset your drive status/type and show it for what it really is. It will take a little while to run let it complete.

...note.............. winsat formal is not a typo.

It should NOT be winsat format.

[crimle]

12 hours ago, nukecad said:

Yes it would be nice if CCleaner (and defraggler, and Speccy) could interrogate the disc to double check what type it is.

But TBH you should be able to rely on Windows to do that for you and get it right. That's why Windows provides logs/databases in the OS - so you can easily query Windows without writing reams of code to check for yourself.

Programmes would get bigger/slower if they all had to check everything for themselves.

I absolutely agree! For me this issue is accomplished. Thank you.

[MVM1787]

So i'm running windows 11 and running current free version of CCleaner, and yes the 64 bit version shows my HDD as SSD, but when i ran the 32 bit version as admin and started it up, it shows everything normal and is able to do the wipe passes at the number i want, Not sure if this will help anyone, but at least try it to see if it resolve's some of your issues.