SSD & HDD with Windows 7

[bgsbrad]

Hello,

I want to use 2 hard drives in my system, and SSD for boot and most often used programs the other for storage and least often used programs. Do both drives need to have Windows 7 installed on them?

 

[alexoiu]

Hi,
No, Install Windows 7 only on the SSD. Set SATA to AHCI and load the SATA driver during Windows install.

 

[bgsbrad]

Thanks for the fast response. Next question. I have already installed Windows 7 on a WD Caviar Black 1TB drive (didn't have the ssd yet, after thought) along with the Windows updates and the drivers and updates for everything else. Can I just format the WD drive and start over on the ssd? How will the least often used programs run from the WD drive or will they?

 

[alexoiu]

Sure, if no necessary data on the HDD, you can format it. Or leave it as it is, install Windows on the SSD and make sure that the primary boot device in BIOS is the SSD. The only "issue" would be the unused space on the HDD, occupied by Windows.
If installing programs on the HDD they will be loaded at the HDD speed.
If you have SATA 3 (6Gb/s) ports on your board and the SSD is SATA 3, connect it to one of them (preferably the chipset ones).

 

[bgsbrad]

I do have SATA 3's with 1 available on the chipset. Does the double install create potential problems with updates / micorsoft eula etc? What is / would be the "issue" with the unused space on the HDD?

 

[alexoiu]

No problems with the double install. You can actually remove the HDD while installing Windows on the SSD and connect it afterwards (check in BIOS after connecting it, if the SSD is still the primary boot device).
"Issue" : Windows occupies let's say 15GB on the HDD and you can't use them.

 

[bgsbrad]

So I will need to follow the same steps for the SSD as I did for the HDD, install all the drives and updates for the components and Widows 7etc so all that information will be present on the boot drive. Correct? I know this likely isn't as complicated as I'm making it out to be, but I think I've read so much information (most of it seems to be conflicting) that I've developed a mental block. I've looked at this two ways. If the HDD was just for storage it wouldn't need the OS, it'd be just like a other storage device, flash drive, memory card, etc. just bigger. The second way was along the lines of reserving space on the SSD for the most used programs and putting the the lessor used programs on the HDD, the HDD would need an OS for the programs to function. I'm clear on the "issue" part, I'm guessing that's to allow for future updates / service packs etc. so the that data is all relatively in the same place. I'll give it a try tommorow / today, it's late (3:20am) and my brain is getting mushy. Can I send you an email if I should have more questions? Thanks againa for all your help.

 

[alexoiu]

You're correct, but one thing. If the system loads Windows from the SSD and you install some applications on the HDD, it doesn't mean that you need Windows to be installed also on the HDD. No, the system will use the resources from the SSD and only the application's files will be accessed from the HDD. I hope I was clear.
You can post here all questions. It will help other users. And you might get better help/clearer answers from other people.

 

[bgsbrad]

Best answer selected by bgsbrad.

 

[bgsbrad]

Things are not going as smoothly as they did with the original HDD install. The SSD appears to be booting slowly and the usb keyboard and mouse keep getting "lost". They either reappear after a few minutes or I have to unplug/plug them back in. This happens on any of the USB 2.0 ports either on the MOBO (ASUS P9X79 Deluxe) or on the case. The SSD (Samsung 830) has an advertised space of 256GB but after the windows install shows as having 186GB of free space? 70GB for windows 7? It did do a pile of updates (94 of them) against my will, but 70GB still seems like a hugh amount of space for the OS install and those updates. Now what?

 

[alexoiu]

Before the updates, have you noticed the USB issues? Have you installed the motheboard drivers?
What you can also try is checking the SSD firmware (updating it might help).
You can install TreeSize http://www.jam-software.com/freeware/index.shtml and identify what files occupy such amount of space on the SSD.