Installing Win8 Pro on 20gb SSD

[radi0head]

Hi, just bought a second hand acer aspire s3 that comes with a 20gb ssd and 500gb hdd.

It came with Win7 on the 500gb, but I have installed a separate copy of Win8 on the 20gb ssd for faster booting (what the drive was designed for).

My questions are this:
1. a) How do I setup windows 8 so that just the core files are on the ssd, but any metro apps, acer programs, or otherwise loads on the 500gb drive?
b) How do I know what files are needed for booting so I can maintain fast boot/wake times?
c) Will this mean I will essentially have 4 program files? (x86/x64 for each drive?)

2. a) The SSD has a 4gb "hibernation partition" which supposedly enables LONG hibernate times. If it was created for Win7, how do I know if it is working for windows 8, and is there any major loss if I just get rid of it?
b) Can I remove this partition which is on the same drive as my Win8 OS without needed to wipe the whole drive?

3. a) Are the drivers and other software on the 15gb recovery partition (on the hdd) backwards compatible with windows 8?
b) Should I bother holding on to them if I can just get new drivers online?

I know it's loads of questions, but know this is the best place to start my journey to figuring this all out.
thanks!

 

[The Stealthinator]

1a) You can choose to install apps to locations other than the default. For metro apps, if there isn't a straightforward way, there might be some registry value you can edit.

b) The main files needed at boot are inside c:\Windows\system32. This is the case for Windows 7, but I'm assuming it is the same for 8.

c) The "program files" go to whatever directory you install them to. That is totally your decision. It's just that most people leave it the default setting.

2a) You don't know if it still works for 8, and no there woould be no major loss as long as you don't have any of your personal files on it.
b) If your disk partioning utility allows it, then yes. If not, you can find one that does for free.

3a) Drivers no. Other software, probably not, but there may be some cases where you may be lucky.
b) No.

Hope this helped! 😉