When I got my laptop, it came with 2 drive letter, C for the OS and D for data. What is the purpose of the D drive? Do I just store downloads and music to it or do I install everything to that drive and leave the C drive alone? Is this supposed to keep boot times fast?
multiple drive letters
- Thread starter mystero3
- Start date
ITGuyMikeP
Reputable
- Jul 16, 2014
- 27
- 0
- 4,540
My guess is D:\ is a recovery data partition. Unless two have two separate hard drives? Did your laptop come with any Windows Operating system CD/DVD's? If not then I assume this is for a factory restore which boots off the data partition.
Many people set up their systems this way. (By the way, although you have two "drives", they probably both are Partitions on one HDD unit. But that does not change things for this discussion.) Here is the plan: You set up your system by Installing all your application software on the D: drive. Then you tell Windows and all the app software that all your data files and new downloads should go there also. The aim is to leave only the OS, and little else, on the C: drive.
Why? Not for boot speed. It is a preventive measure in case the C: drive is damaged in some modest way, like data corruption. If that sort of problem can't be fixed easily, the clean solution is to wipe that drive clean and re-install the OS. The "problem" with that solution IF all your stuff is on ONE drive is that you lose everything old! But with all your good stuff on a different D: drive, you don't lose any of it when you wipe the C: drive and re-install Windows.
This does not help you in cases of catastrophic failure of the entire HDD unit, but it certainly does help in more common problem situations.
Why? Not for boot speed. It is a preventive measure in case the C: drive is damaged in some modest way, like data corruption. If that sort of problem can't be fixed easily, the clean solution is to wipe that drive clean and re-install the OS. The "problem" with that solution IF all your stuff is on ONE drive is that you lose everything old! But with all your good stuff on a different D: drive, you don't lose any of it when you wipe the C: drive and re-install Windows.
This does not help you in cases of catastrophic failure of the entire HDD unit, but it certainly does help in more common problem situations.
Ijack
Splendid
- Jul 30, 2008
- 7,099
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- 28,010
Unfortunately, that plan doesn't help with programs either as they will need to be reinstalled if the OS is reinstalled (registry entries, .dlls, etc.). The D: drive is only really useful for storing user data.
But it is a good idea to separate the data and the programs, especially now that data files are getting so large. Some manufacturers have been supplying computers configured this way for many years.
But it is a good idea to separate the data and the programs, especially now that data files are getting so large. Some manufacturers have been supplying computers configured this way for many years.
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