SSD & HDD Confusion

[legend8887]

When I build my first computer I am going to get the 128GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD along with the 2TB Western Digital Black HDD. I want to install my games and other large files on the HDD and install smaller files such as anti-virus and Google Chrome on the SSD. However, I can't figure out how I would install certain programs to a certain drive. Can someone clear that up for me?

 

P.S. I've never had more than one drive in my computer so this is why I'm confused.

[Rorgash]

you set install path during install of programs

[FlamingDefibs]

Well, when the program is installing, just change the directory to the other drive by using the browse button.

[Rheinwasser]

you double click the installer and then click custom installation or something like this and then choose your drive.

[Ahnzh]

as an alternative, just unplug the HDD while running the installer. when you finished installing plug it in again

[FizzyFantom]

as an alternative, just unplug the HDD while running the installer. when you finished installing plug it in again

They are talking about installing programs after the OS is running, but that is good advice when installing Windows.

You should change the install directory manually when running each installer. If you are using Steam then you can set up a Steam games folder on another drive through Steam settings (maybe on install, but I don't remember).

You can also set the program files folders to a different location with some registry editing, but I wouldn't really recommend this.

[Ahnzh]

for me it sounded like the OS was installed on the HDD, my fault on that then

[legend8887]

They are talking about installing programs after the OS is running, but that is good advice when installing Windows.

You should change the install directory manually when running each installer. If you are using Steam then you can set up a Steam games folder on another drive through Steam settings (maybe on install, but I don't remember).

You can also set the program files folders to a different location with some registry editing, but I wouldn't really recommend this.

Why would I unplug the HDD while I install Windows on the SSD?

[GlobalCorey]

Usually when you are installing a program you will be shown the option to change the directory where the program will be installed (I.E. what drive it will be installed on).

Sometimes this can be found in something along the lines of "advanced" options during the installation of the program.

Just install the program to the directory you want it to be in.

[legend8887]

Usually when you are installing a program you will be shown the option to change the directory where the program will be installed (I.E. what drive it will be installed on).

Sometimes this can be found in something along the lines of "advanced" options during the installation of the program.

Just install the program to the directory you want it to be in.

Is it a good idea to install all my non-games on the SSD and all my games and large media files on the HDD?

[Ahnzh]

I would install everything that you use daily on the SSD, everything you don't can be installed on the HDD. It doesn't make a difference for the program you install, it's just that you want to reduce loading times for stuff that you use regularly. And remember to leave 30% of the SSD unused.

[legend8887]

I would install everything that you use daily on the SSD, everything you don't can be installed on the HDD. It doesn't make a difference for the program you install, it's just that you want to reduce loading times for stuff that you use regularly. And remember to leave 30% of the SSD unused.

Why 30&? Also, since I use Google Chrome everyday should I put that on the SSD?

[Ahnzh]

Why 30&? Also, since I use Google Chrome everyday should I put that on the SSD?

Put Chrome on it To keep an SSD fast you have to leave space unused. When you delete a file from your system it's not really 'gone', the reference that's pointing to the file is getting deleted but physically the file still exists and the physical area where it was saved is declared as 'ready to overwrite'. When using a HDD ,you just literally overwrite the file. the heads navigate to the area of a  platter and just overwrite magnetic information on it. SSDs are different. you have to get rid of data first before being able to write into a cell (clear-operation). this isn't done at the time you delete the file but at some point in time your computer is idling. This mechanism is called TRIM. That's the speed aspect. SSDs are living longer as well if you leave space open. Every storage cell is able to take a certain amount of accesses before going down the drain. so think about the following scenario: you have 1GB left and temporal data or cache data is written/read/deleted on this 1GB space nonstop because that's the way a computer works. These storage cells won't live long in that case. nowadays you got Multi Layer Cells (MLC). the problem is that you got like 10 levels of cells of which every cell can take 4MB or so, 40MB for one MLC cell. Every time you do an operation on these 40 MB the lifetime of the MLC cell is getting reduced. Reading from it in general is not really hazardous, while writing/deleting is. To balance this out an SSD balances the sectors something is written at by spreading it across the SSD. To avoid writing on a single cell too often you leave around 30% of your SSD unused. I hope that helped, it's a little bit technical but it secures speed and survivability of your SSD

 

 

/edit: the lifetime of a MLC cell made server SSDs focus on Single Layer Cells (SLC), that's just changing recently since MLC cells' lifetime got high enough to put them into servers. still, same reason behind it, server HDDs are getting stressed usually and to avoid data loss SLC was used instead of MLC