SSD w/ HDD - Windows 7 setup help

[Torque21]

I've recently completed my first PC build ever, coming from my beloved MacBook Pro. With that being said, I am as much of a Windows noob as can be.

Anyway, I have a 60GB Vertex 3 that I want to use strictly for my OS and maybe one game and a 500GB Caviar Blue that I want to use for everything else. I want Windows 7 to be installed onto the SSD and then for it to never attempt to use the SSD for anything else, unless I tell it to. As it is right now, programs are defaulted to installing on the SSD and even when I change the location to the HDD, a lot of stuff still ends up on the SSD.

So what I intend to do is wipe my SSD and HDD clean and start from scratch, the right way, hopefully with your guys' help. I'm thinking the steps to do so would be something like:

1. Wipe the SSD and HDD clean, then unplug the HDD
2. Install Windows 7 back onto the SSD
3. Install Windows 7 updates and various drivers with the HDD still unplugged (or do I install the drivers onto the HDD?)
4. Plug the HDD back in, format it, then proceed to move users and program files folders to the HDD from the SSD (??? - is this how you do what I'm ultimately trying to accomplish?)

The other thing I've been confused about is SSD firmware. I can't figure out which firmware my SSD has and I know anything but the latest has been extremely unstable. If I can somehow find out which version I have and it's not the latest, how do I go about updating it? I know it doesn't work when you have an OS installed on the SSD. Does that mean before I do the four steps above I should install Windows onto my HDD so I can update the firmware on my SSD? Or is there another way to do it?


All the help I can get would be greatly appreciated! :|

 

[Charlie98]

If memory serves, your SSD should have the installed firmware version on the data plate/label. If you got it recently from a reliable source, it is probably the most recent version.

Funny... you and I have basically the same idea about system setup... including basically the same components. I, too, have been struggling trying to keep it from writing every damned thing to the SSD. I think it boils down to programming (selecting, for example, D drive) instead of plugging and unplugging components.

 

[Torque21]

I found the firmware of the SSD and awesomely enough, it's the latest.

As for the other stuff, I have the same thread up on SevenForums, and it turns out doing what we're trying to do is actually not that complicated. I'm still asking some questions over there to make sure I know everything I need to know and I'm going to do everything right this time around, but if you want I can give you the link to the thread in the mean time.

 

[Charlie98]

I found the firmware of the SSD and awesomely enough, it's the latest.

As for the other stuff, I have the same thread up on SevenForums, and it turns out doing what we're trying to do is actually not that complicated. I'm still asking some questions over there to make sure I know everything I need to know and I'm going to do everything right this time around, but if you wantI can give you the link to the thread in the mean time.

Please...! I've found the hardware part easiest for me to understand... it's the software I have problems with... :'(

 

[Torque21]

http://www.sevenforums.com/general-discussion/206250-ssd-w-hdd-windows-7-setup-help.html

That's the link to my thread specifically. I've found a Google search for "ssd boot hdd storage" brings up some other stuff that you might found useful as well. But for the most part, if you read my other thread I just linked to, you should hopefully be on your way to solving this fairly annoying quirk.

 

[ViRGE]

As far as installing new programs goes there is no good solution. Most programs are going to default to installing in Program Files, and you definitely want to leave that where it is (since so much of Windows is in there). Thus the only real solution is to be sure to manually set the install location of your programs to the HDD when you're installing them.

Other than that, the best you can do is try to conserve space in other ways by getting non-application data off of the SSD. ZDNet has a decent article about just that.

 

[Torque21]

Even though I have been manually changing installed programs to the HDD, it still seems like certain things are getting onto the SSD. And there's really no way to change the default letter of the install location when you download and are on the installer of a new program? You need to change it yourself every time?

 

[Charlie98]

Other than that, the best you can do is try to conserve space in other ways by getting non-application data off of the SSD. ZDNet has a decent article about just that.

That was a pretty good article... and reinforced some of what I read elsewhere. Easy for me to understand...

 

[ViRGE]

Even though I have been manually changing installed programs to the HDD, it still seems like certain things are getting onto the SSD.

There are certain special directories (Common Files, ProgramData) that applications will put shared files into. There's nothing you can do about this.

And there's really no way to change the default letter of the install location when you download and are on the installer of a new program? You need to change it yourself every time?

Correct. Most programs will attempt to install to Program Files, and the same mechanism that tells them where that directory is, is the mechanism that tells Windows where it is.