Having SSD for OS and HDD besides it

[Jovaras]

Hi,
My new laptop will arrive soon and it has 2 HDD slots. It will be with 1 HDD (usual one) already inserted.
Question is, can I insert SSD into other slot, write win7 into it and leave original HDD in 2nd slot?
If so, can I move data between them? Or data gets corrupted?
Thanks!

P.S. SSD is Crucial m4 128 GB

 

[Burner27]

Hi,
My new laptop will arrive soon and it has 2 HDD slots. It will be with 1 HDD (usual one) already inserted.
Question is, can I insert SSD into other slot, write win7 into it and leave original HDD in 2nd slot?
If so, can I move data between them? Or data gets corrupted?
Thanks!

P.S. SSD is Crucial m4 128 GB

Which one do you want to use as your OS drive? Personally, i would use the SSD as the OS drive and the HDD as storage. use acronis True image Home 2012 to clone your drive to the SSD. Then switch the slots for the SSD and the HDD so that the SSD is in slot 1 and boots from that. Format the HDD and use it as storage.

 

[Jovaras]

Yes, SSD as the OS drive.
My notebook will arrive with an empty HDD(because I ordered without OS) and the SSD I will insert is also fresh and empty.

 

[corkyg]

OK - then put the SSD in #1 and the DATA drive in #2. Install the OS to the SSD - and go from there. You will need your laptop's drivers to install or else some of your laptops gizmos won't work. What brand and model?

 

[Jovaras]

DELL XPS 17
ok, but there are no problems in moving data back and fourth between the drives?

 

[manderson]

DELL XPS 17
ok, but there are no problems in moving data back and fourth between the drives?

Don't understand. What data would you want to move back and forth?

The idea is to have dedicated SSD for OS and applications, and have the HDD for all of your data. Reconfigure Windows 7 to have all of your data folders on the HDD. I created a separate partition on the HDD for temporary internet files and indexing files. This way, the only thing written to your SSD would theoretically be page file data. This method is working flawlessly for me. The data HDD will have improved performace by not having to deal with the OS and apps overhead.

Create an image of the SSD after you are finished configuring it, and make certain you make regular backups of your data HDD drive.

 

[Dadofamunky]

If getting a new laptop from Dell, why not have them install the OS in the SSD config for you? Or simply bring it in to a *good* retailer (Central Computers comes to mind) and have them do the install for you? You have the Windows license that is bound to the laptop already, so I don't see any problems for you.

 

[Burner27]

If getting a new laptop from Dell, why not have them install the OS in the SSD config for you? Or simply bring it in to a *good* retailer (Central Computers comes to mind) and have them do the install for you? You have the Windows license that is bound to the laptop already, so I don't see any problems for you.

I am not sure if they charge you for the OS install but you can get a better deal on an SSD by buying it from The Egg or other online e-tailers. Having the OP do this himself/herself is a great learning experience as well. You can save $$$ by learning to do things yourself.

 

[Shmee]

True, though warranty might be effected. Also, it should not matter which slot the drives are installed in, dont worry, worse that could happen is you would have to change the boot order.

Good choice on ssd btw, glhf.

 

[groberts101]

yes you can run an OS on bothe drives without issue. All you need to do is change boot order to go into either OS at will or F12(or applicable) during post to select the prefered boot device. It's actually a very nice way to keep redundancy and help troubleshoot issues should they ever arise. I use 3 OS volumes on this machine alone and all others have the same SSD/HDD based OS combo as well.

I would do this as "best case". Install the fresh OS onto the SSD and point all driver requirements to the existing HDD for ease of updates.

Then wipe the HDD and preformat from the SSD's W7 disk mgmt console to make 2(or whatever you need) distinct partitions. Then simply install W7 to the first partition and again point to the other drive(SSD) for all necessary drivers. This allows the seperation of the OS partition and the second partitions "storage only" for the HDD.

Of course you can always just leave the OEM install on the HDD alone and make a seperate storage folder.. or add another partition with the many disk mgmt tools out there. Not quite as clean.. but each OS will always see the other drive as a storage/secondary and data can be moved however you prefer.

 

[tweakboy]

Hi,
My new laptop will arrive soon and it has 2 HDD slots. It will be with 1 HDD (usual one) already inserted.
Question is, can I insert SSD into other slot, write win7 into it and leave original HDD in 2nd slot?
If so, can I move data between them? Or data gets corrupted?
Thanks!

P.S. SSD is Crucial m4 128 GB

Yes you can. You just need to make sure BIOS selects proper drive for bootup or youll get ntdlr missing , etc.... Im guessing SATA 2 3Gbps , Youll get some lag since its on a laptop... but it will be 225mbps 200mbps write. GL