Installing new hard drive and SSD question

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moondawg009

moondawg009

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May 27, 2012
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I'm getting a bigger harddrive as well as an SSD i was wondering since I have only ever had this one hard drive I have now, when you install a new hard drive do you need to reinstall windows or can you jsut plug it in and begin to download and store things onto that one and pick and choose between each one along with the SSD.
 
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SuperSoph_WD
Hey there, moondawg009!

When getting a new booting drive as the SSD for better performance of your system, it's always better to clean install the OS onto it. However, you should make sure you unplug all other SATA devices from the motherboard at the time of the installation, otherwise you will most probably encounter an OS confusion that will result in a lot of booting issues.

You can check some Windows Install & Optimization guides for SSDs & HDDs online. They are very informative and can definitely shed some more light on the whole storage upgrade process. You can simply relocate your user profile or the default download & installation path to the secondary HDDs, instead of...
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Gam3r01

Gam3r01

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Jan 12, 2013
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That depends.
If you want to put windows on the SSD (You should), you would want to reinstall windows. Any programs you may have (Chrome, Steam, Antivirus) should also get a fresh install on the SSD.
Adding in non C: drives (storage, like the HDD) is simple. Plug it in, and when you download something specify where you want it to go (or change default download locations to the HDDs)
 
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SuperSoph_WD

SuperSoph_WD

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Jul 30, 2014
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Hey there, moondawg009!

When getting a new booting drive as the SSD for better performance of your system, it's always better to clean install the OS onto it. However, you should make sure you unplug all other SATA devices from the motherboard at the time of the installation, otherwise you will most probably encounter an OS confusion that will result in a lot of booting issues.

You can check some Windows Install & Optimization guides for SSDs & HDDs online. They are very informative and can definitely shed some more light on the whole storage upgrade process. You can simply relocate your user profile or the default download & installation path to the secondary HDDs, instead of filling up your SSD.

As @Gam3r01 mentioned, you also have the option to clone your current boot drive to the SSD, but you might also transfer some redundant system files that could potentially influence the performance.

Hope this was helpful. Keep us posted if you have more queries! :)
SuperSoph_WD
 
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SuperSoph_WD

SuperSoph_WD

Glorious
Jul 30, 2014
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Hey there again, moondawg009!

I don't think it's an overkill, it really depends on your intended purpose for the newly acquired storage devices and the amount of data you'd be saving onto it. Indeed, most people use the SSD for their OS and most demanding applications like games, editing software, etc. Whereas, the HDD serves as a secondary storage for all massive files like movies, raw software files, gameplay recordings, media files, etc.

Either way, you should always keep off-site backups on external drives or some other storage device. Having at least two copies of your data stored in different locations is the surest way to avoid the headaches of potential data loss.

Hope I was helpful. Best of luck! :)
SuperSoph_WD
 
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