One SSD for OS and other SSD for programs? What happens when I format the OS?

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eliteA92

eliteA92

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Mar 20, 2015
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Hi,

I have a desktop PC for gaming, photo editing, multimedia... with the following drives:
SSD - 120 GB Samsung Evo 840
HDD - 1 TB WD Caviar Blue

I use my SSD for OS (win 8.1), drivers, desktop, some programs... as usual. But I am always playing with only 10 GB of empty space so I am thinking about upgrading with another SSD, maybe 240 GB Samsung Evo 850.

The idea is to keep the 120 GB one clean only for SO and drivers. The 240 one will store stuff like programs (Office, Autocad, Chrome, Photoshop), some slow-loading games (GTA...) and frequently used files.

However, I am not sure if is there any advantage in keeping one drive only for OS and drivers. I mean, if I format the OS, do I have to reinstall programs and games although they are stored in other drive?
 
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S
When you install a program that has any level of configurable settings it's going to store any OS specific settings in the registry, and any settings specifically to the user get socked away in the AppData folder inside your user folder. All that goes in a reformat, and most programs will fail in their absence.

If you need to free up some quick space on your SSD, make a virtual memory file on that WD hard drive to the same size as your installed ram and reboot. Then you can skinny the virtual memory file on your SSD down to 512MB safely. Do not do both without rebooting in between. Next, make sure hibernation is completely off to disappear that big hiberfile.sys
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shloader

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Dec 24, 2001
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When you install a program that has any level of configurable settings it's going to store any OS specific settings in the registry, and any settings specifically to the user get socked away in the AppData folder inside your user folder. All that goes in a reformat, and most programs will fail in their absence.

If you need to free up some quick space on your SSD, make a virtual memory file on that WD hard drive to the same size as your installed ram and reboot. Then you can skinny the virtual memory file on your SSD down to 512MB safely. Do not do both without rebooting in between. Next, make sure hibernation is completely off to disappear that big hiberfile.sys
 
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