Help with a ssd/hdd combination

yogi6994

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Mar 1, 2012
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I know there is a bunch of other posts about how to set up an ssd along with a hdd. And I'm sorry but I just wanted to know if someone could dumb down the steps as much as possible.
What I want is to install the OS on the ssd along with photoshop, aftereffects or Sony Vegas(still haven't decided), illustrator, Microsoft office, and iTunes. But I want all of my files on the hdd. Thanks in advance I appreciate you all for taking your time and helping out a noob that wants to become better with computers. :)
 

COLGeek

Cybernaut
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How big is your SSD (capacity)? The best way to install to a SSD/HDD combo is to connect with only the SSD connected first. Get Win 7 installed and updated (along with your Anti-Virus program). Then add the HDD (re-connect it).

Only install apps to the SSD that need the speed. All other apps you should install to the HDD.
 

yogi6994

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Its a corsair force series 3 120gb, I read somewhere that you need to make changes to the registry also? And yea I'm only installing apps that I would need to access fast.
 

aqe040466

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Nov 29, 2011
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I just upgraded my PC with a new SSD. This is what I did. I connected the new SSD to the SATA III(6Gb/s) I disconnected the old HDD but not the optical drive. I turn on the PC and hit delete to go to BIOS, in the SATA configuration I change the IDE to AHCI mode then save and exit. Change the Boot priority to Optical drive(DVD ROM drive). Open the dvd drive and put the Win 7 OS. It will automatically install the Win 7. BTW I am using a Samsung 830 series 128 GB SATA III(6Gb/s). My startup went from 1:30 sec to 12 sec. When I open a program like Office 2010 Professional, it is less than 2 sec. I think this is the greatest technological advancement in computing industry.
 
This was my experience...

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/280885-14-install-experience

But your situation looks simpler and more complciated at same time :pt1cable:
I guess your data is all in one partion - so you cant do as I did... which makes it simpler in some respects... start from scratch!!

Backup everything....
Disconnect all HDD
Connect SSD
Install OS
Connect old HDD
Tidy up old HDD (delete all but your personal data you want to keep, save files etc)
Install all your apps (make sure they install on old HDD)
Make sure your old saved data is picked up by your progs as needed.
Job done...

Is that scary for you?

Cheers
 

thirteenthcor

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Jan 14, 2011
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Not to purposefully Hijack this thread, but if I recall, will anyone have problems when installing a new HDD with a new copy of WIN7 with their file permissions?

I recall I did that once and it locked down half my crap. Was a nightmare to get back into.

Unless that has to do with the user directory thingy, this may be something which needs to be addressed; I never found a way around avoiding all my storage drives thinking their king had been beheaded and replaced with a completely new one!
 

catatafish

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Feb 6, 2012
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I've been considering doing this too. I've been seeing people saying stuff about the "trim" setting that keeps the SSD from degrading, or something like that? Does that happen automatically? What is it exactly?
 

aqe040466

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It is better to install a fresh Win 7 OS on SSD, nothing to edit on the registry.
 

Soda-88

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you can take the ownership back pretty easily

right click on file/folder that gives you a headache>properties>securty>advanced>owner>edit>select your current account, press ok and voila
 

CyChrome

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I see this is a couple years old, so I assume you don't care anymore, but for the benefit of Google referals:

SSD data retrieval is faster than HDD data retrieval
But RAM data retrieval is faster than either.

So, installing windows on an SSD will make booting up faster than windows on an HDD.

Installing applications on an SSD will make those programs launch faster than applications installed on an HDD.

But, installing applications on SSD will not make the RUN FASTER. This is because when they are launched, the code is copied into RAM, which is faster than both SSD and HDD. The disks are just used to fresh data the first time.*

However, RAM (memory) is expensive, so we also have "virtual memory" which lets a piece of a hard drive act like true memory. This is represented by a file named pagefile.sys. (It is normally in C:\, but it's one of the system files that Windows hides from you by default.) Depending on how much memory you have, (vs how much you actually need) Windows might use this a lot. If that's the case, you can make everything *run* faster by putting the pagefile on the SSD.

(swapfile.sys is similar to pagefile.sys; hiberfil.sys is for system hibernates, so the importance of that depends on whether you use hibernate or not.)

It is also important to keep a large percentage of your SSD empty. (Check with the manufacturer, but I would guess 20-30%.) It might be worth it to you to put windows and the .sys files on the SSD, and then put most or all of your applications on your HDD.