SSD, disc drive or both?

JBR

JBR

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I'd be grateful for any advice, as I haven't before had both an SSD and traditional hard drive on my previous computers.
On my new Windows laptop, everything - Windows, all programmes and files, etc. - is on the C: drive (SSD).
There is nothing at all on the larger D: drive (internal hard disc).
What would normally be placed on the D: drive?
Should I copy all my files on to it, in addition to them being on the C: drive for quicker access?
Thanks for any advice.
 
things like photos, documents of any type should all be saved on the disc drive so as not to fill the SSD to quick

try where possible to keep the ssd (c: drive) for the operating system and programs so things load and continue to load really quickly.
 
sxturbo said:
things like photos, documents of any type should all be saved on the disc drive so as not to fill the SSD to quick

try where possible to keep the ssd (c: drive) for the operating system and programs so things load and continue to load really quickly.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Would that make loading files, photos, etc., slower or wouldn't that make much difference?
Perhaps I should move all documents to the hard disc drive, but keep some regularly used ones on the SSD as well?
 
JBR said:
Perhaps I should move all documents to the hard disc drive, but keep some regularly used ones on the SSD as well?
Click to expand...
Unless you've got documents that are gigabytes big, you're unlikely to notice the difference between loading them from the SSD or from the HDD. The SSD would respond in microseconds while the HDD would respond in milliseconds.

I'd recommend you keep all documents in one location to keep your filing system simple and facilitate backup.
 
rossj81 said:
Unless you've got documents that are gigabytes big, you're unlikely to notice the difference between loading them from the SSD or from the HDD. The SSD would respond in microseconds while the HDD would respond in milliseconds.

I'd recommend you keep all documents in one location to keep your filing system simple and facilitate backup.
Click to expand...
Thanks. Hopefully, I can just drag and drop from C: to D:
 
The right option here depends upon your use case and what you want out of it, a couple of points to consider:

1. Stick to the SSD for your OS, it's much better for boot up time and performance
2. What is the make and model of the "D: drive" and how old is it?
3. Do you have a backup for the D: drives contents
4. What is the total capacity of the D: drive and how much do you use/need?

You might want to look at a cloud storage solution as an alternative if you do not require a large amount of space, google drive offers 15GB of storage free if that fulfills your needs.

If the contents of D: is important to you ensure you have another separate physical drive that has a copy of the data backed up.
 
Harry Bloomfield said:
My SSD and HDD show as just the one single drive C:/ - No other drives on my system.
Click to expand...

Fancy getting the make and model of the drive so i can best advise, it might be a hybrid drive?

Is this a desktop or a laptop?

Do you know how many physical drives are in the system?
 
withers said:
Fancy getting the make and model of the drive so i can best advise, it might be a hybrid drive?

Is this a desktop or a laptop?

Do you know how many physical drives are in the system?
Click to expand...

It's a laptop - HP Pavilion, Intel Optain+ 931GbHDD
 
Harry Bloomfield said:
It's a laptop - HP Pavilion, Intel Optain+ 931GbHDD
Click to expand...

Ah looks like you might have something called Optane storage so potentially a HDD (hard drive) with a fast cache, your most regular accessed data is in the fast cache which is a special cache stored in memory for fast access.

Search the start menu for 'system information' open 'system information' go to 'components' and add some screen shots here for 'disks' and 'drives' and i can I best advise you on what to do depedant on your use case.
 
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Yep Optane memory so an HDD with a separate stick of optane memory (fast memory) usually 16 or 32GB where your frequently accessed data is stored, it's basically combining the benefits of high capacity low cost HDD and the speed of faster storages in a hybrid manner.

It shows D: as a 'removable disk' do you have a CD drive with this laptop or any usb drives/sticks plugged in?

Can you search 'this PC and open it up and take a screen shot of your drives under 'Devices and drives'

Also do you have a backup for your data?
 
Harry Bloomfield said:
D is a usb stick.
Click to expand...

Well to answer your original question:


I'd be grateful for any advice, as I haven't before had both an SSD and traditional hard drive on my previous computers. (you have a hyrbid style HDD with a fast memory cache)

On my new Windows laptop, everything - Windows, all programmes and files, etc. - is on the C: drive (Correct)

There is nothing at all on the larger D: drive (we have now confirmed this is a USB stick)


What would normally be placed on the D: drive? (Depends what the USB stick is for and it's size, you could use it to back up data, just make sure you back up the USB stick it's self)


Should I copy all my files onto it, in addition to them being on the C: drive for quicker access? (not for quicker access no as your Optane drive has its own intelligent fast memory cache for stuff on the C: drive)

In short:
Keep everything on your C: drive
Make efforts to remove stuff you don't need
Backup all your important files and documents, then backup the backup.

For backups:
USB hard drives
USB sticks
Cloud storage solutions
Regular hard drives access access via a caddie

I hope that answers your questions
 
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