Custom Built Computer Boot Drive vs Storage Drive

[cub1982]

I recently had a computer custom built at a repair store. A couple of weeks back my start menu stopped working because of a Windows 10 update. I decided to wipe everything and reinstall Windows. I have done this many times in the past on other computers with no problem. This time it was quite a headache. I have 2 hard drives. I first removed the data from both drives, then assumed Windows should be installed on the smaller drive. After installing there I realized I had no access to the larger drive anymore. So I started over and installed instead on the larger drive. After doing this I finally admitted that I had no idea what I was doing. I brought it back to the repair store and asked them to make it the way it was when I bought it. They did so with no questions asked, but I'm worried about it happening again. The main issue is I have no idea how the two drives are configured. If I need to reinstall Windows again, how can I set this up correctly?

These are the two drives I have:

Boot Drive: Samsung 850 EVO 120GB SSD
Storage Drive: Seagate Barracuda 1TB HDD

Thank you!

 

[DonkeyOatie]

Windows should be on the SSD and data on the HDD.

To make it easy when we configure systems at school we start the OS installation process with only the SATA cables to the drive we want the OS on connected. That way nothing can end up in the wrong place.

 

[cub1982]

Windows should be on the SSD and data on the HDD.

To make it easy when we configure systems at school we start the OS installation process with only the SATA cables to the drive we want the OS on connected. That way nothing can end up in the wrong place.

I was startled when I saw the configuration as it looks like drive(disk) 0 isn't doing anything. Is that correct? See screenshot below. My assumption is that the boot drive would speed up the startup in particular, but since it's showing unallocated is it able to do anything?

http://postimg.org/image/qw2f5kcsl/

 

[DonkeyOatie]

The system should boot in under 15 seconds.


That information does not match what you say you have.

There is no sign of the SSD, the OS in on your HDD, and there's a 2Tb backup drive.

Here's what mine looks like. 255Gb + 1 Tb

 

[cub1982]

The system should boot in under 15 seconds.


That information does not match what you say you have.

There is no sign of the SSD, the OS in on your HDD, and there's a 2Tb backup drive.

Here's what mine looks like. 255Gb + 1 Tb

Someone suggested that the OS appears to be on the 1TB HDD, and that they set up my SSD as a 64GB cache using Intel RST and then just ignored the rest of the SSD (hence the unallocated 48GB).

A 120GB SSD gives you about 93% of the "marketed" 120GB, so about 111.6 minus the 64GB cache, and that would leave 47.6GB (since the 93% is approximate, that accounts for the unused space that I see as unallocated space on the SSD). And disk management won't show the space that is used by the Intel cache -- the 64GB.

One more related question. How would I install the OS to the SSD and then get the HDD to show up. I tried that when all of this happened. When I installed to the SSD, I only then saw one drive, the SSD on my desktop. The HDD was not visible. Would I need to change something in the BIOS settings or something? Is there somewhere I can find the steps to configure that way?

 

[DonkeyOatie]

We set up our school systems all the time that way. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2625445/build-log-consolidated-middle-school-builds.htmlTo make sure things turn out right here's what we do.

1. Boot the system into BIOS with everything connected and by looking at the Boot Sequence function we can see what devices our computer can 'see'. That ensures everything is connected and powered properly.

2. Unplug the SATA cables for everything but the DVD drive if internal, and the SSD we want the OS on. If the DVD is external, then we are booting off the USB.

3. Set the system to boot off the OS (DVD or USB) and follow the installation instructions. The only drive it can see will be the SSD, so that's where it goes.

4. Reconnect the SATA cables for all other drives and use the OS to Allocate the space on them.

I agree that the OS appears to be on your HDD.

What is your Motherboard/BIOS?