Is it okay to have your OS and Games on the same harddrive?

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DrSandwich

Reputable
Oct 17, 2015
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Planning on getting a new harddrive since mine is super slow from running the OS, programs, and games. My current one is just a really crappy HP harddrive. If I move the OS and some games to the new one, will it speed it up?
 
Solution
coozie7
If the system is slow overall it may just indicate the current system needs some TLC.
Try, in order:
Uninstall any programs you don't use, then sweep through the drive to delete any remaining files/folders left behind by the uninstall.
Delete any unwanted files; Photos, movies, old projects.
Move any file folders off the desktop, 'copy and paste' them into the 'C' drive.
Run the Windows disk cleanup utility to clear out the garbage.
Download and install Ccleaner from here: http://www.piriform.com/ then run it to fully clear out the HDD.
Still using Ccleaner, run its registry cleanup and SAVE the registry when prompted.
Fully power down the system then restart.
Run the Windows Defragmenter tool on the 'C' drive.
Reboot.
Done.
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Solandri

Solandri

Illustrious
Jan 4, 2012
4,919
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The game will load faster on the new HDD, but unlike the above reply I always try to put the game and OS (or at least the pagefile) on separate drives.

Windows like to access the pagefile at odd times (even when you have plenty of free RAM), and it seems to consider it a highest-priority operation. It will literally freeze everything - even the mouse cursor - until the pagefile access is complete (very visible if the drive has gone into power save and spun down). If your game happens to be trying to read files off the HDD when this happens, you'll experience a microstutter as it waits for Windows to finish its pagefile access before completing the game's file read. The only drives I've seen immune fro this are SSDs, which are likely so fast the microstutter is invisible.
 
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coozie7

coozie7

Champion
Jun 2, 2007
10,015
10
59,215
If the system is slow overall it may just indicate the current system needs some TLC.
Try, in order:
Uninstall any programs you don't use, then sweep through the drive to delete any remaining files/folders left behind by the uninstall.
Delete any unwanted files; Photos, movies, old projects.
Move any file folders off the desktop, 'copy and paste' them into the 'C' drive.
Run the Windows disk cleanup utility to clear out the garbage.
Download and install Ccleaner from here: http://www.piriform.com/ then run it to fully clear out the HDD.
Still using Ccleaner, run its registry cleanup and SAVE the registry when prompted.
Fully power down the system then restart.
Run the Windows Defragmenter tool on the 'C' drive.
Reboot.
Done.
 
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Solution
A

ArtPog

Admirable
Sep 17, 2014
2,951
3
8,965
Just one thing to keep in mind...

While you didn't indicate the size of the HDD you're planning to purchase I'll assume it will be one considerably larger than 1 TB.

That being the case, consider partitioning that large-capacity disk so that you can install the OS onto a separate partition. You can then multi-partition the remainder of the drive in any way you see fit.

I suggest this because it's a safe bet that by & by you're going to purchase a SSD in the not-too-distant future. Because of the relatively high cost of large-capacity SSDs you would probably opt for a SSD having a disk-space capacity of less than 1 TB. (Of course, if you could spring for a large-capacity SSD > 1 TB that would be wonderful).

So you will want to transfer the OS from the HDD to the SSD to gain a considerable speed advantage. Having a separate partition on the HDD containing the OS will facilitate the migration (disk-cloning) operation. Then you could utilize the remainder of the disk-space on the HDD for your programs, personal data, backups, etc., etc. Capiche?
 
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A

ArtPog

Admirable
Sep 17, 2014
2,951
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8,965


Just out of curiosity, what did you finally decide?
 
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