Question about Windows and multiple hard disks.

[Pez D Spencer]

I have two hard drives, a 40GB and a 250GB. Would It be an advantage to install windows and only windows on the 40GB and then any games, apps, or other stuff on the 250GB? My thinking is that by doing this, windows will have a whole disk to itself and wont get clogged up and bogged down by all the other stuff that gets installed.

Is this the right way to do this? Is this a good idea? Help me out. Ive only ever used a single hard disk.

Thanks in advance.

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

Originally posted by: Pez D Spencer
I have two hard drives, a 40GB and a 250GB. Would It be an advantage to install windows and only windows on the 40GB and then any games, apps, or other stuff on the 250GB? My thinking is that by doing this, windows will have a whole disk to itself and wont get clogged up and bogged down by all the other stuff that gets installed.

Is this the right way to do this? Is this a good idea? Help me out. Ive only ever used a single hard disk.

Thanks in advance.

It's not usually a good idea. What you probably should do is figure out which disk is fastest, and use it for Windows and all your software. If you need extra storage for various raw data (music, videos, documents, pics, etc.) use the 40GB. If your 40GB drive is faster, then it's a perfect setup, because you can re-install Windows without backing up your data. If the 250GB drive is bigger, you probably won't ever use the 40GB drive except for overflow of data. If that is the case, you might consider having Windows keep it off while it's not in use.

 

[Pez D Spencer]

my 40GB is a SATA II drive and my 250GB is an SATA I drive. Im not real sure what you meant but my thinking is that since the 40GB is faster then thats where windows should go, and then anything I install should go on the 250GB. Im still kind of confused.

 

[hurtstotalktoyou]

I think you've misunderstood me...

If your 40GB drive is SATA-300 (there is no SATA II, strictly speaking; it's called SATA-300 or SATA@300GB/s), then it's probably at least a little faster than the 250 GB SATA-150 drive. However, without specific makes and models, I can't guarantee you the 40GB drive is truly fastest.

But let's say it is. In that case, this is what you should do, in my opinion:

Install Windows and all your software on the 40GB drive. Store all your raw data (music, video, documents, etc.) This way, your processing will mostly work from your fastest drive, while the slower drive will be used mostly for storage. What's more, you can re-install Windows without having to back up your files.