Two users, two harddrives, 1 windows help

KuronekoLP

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I plan on building a PC with two hard drives for two different users.

HDD 1 will be for user A
HDD 2 will be for user B
but i only have 1 windows key.
Is it possible to just install windows on one HDD and then both be able to use and save on theìr respective HDD's?

Basically when user B downloads cat images, they get saved on HDD2 and then when user A logs in and saves a game, it gets saved on HDD1.
 
Solution

Why exactly do we want to do this?
I'd suggest a slightly different approach:
1. Install windows in HDD #1
2. partition HDD #2, so that it has partition for user #1 and user #2 (basically divide the disk in half)
3. mount each partition to profile of each user (c:\users\username1 and c:\users\username2)

That way cat images and savegames will go into partitions that belong to their respective users.


Or - you can do the same thing with 3 hard drives:
HDD #1 - for OS,
HDD #2 - profile of user 1,
HDD #3 - profile of user 2.

010010

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Using an administrator account with the permissions feature on windows, just make X account only have access to files on X HDD and Y account only have access to files on Y HDD.
 

Zkye

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As @010010 said, you can create one more user, but the Administrator will always have access everywhere. You can just block access for the other user and some programs can't be installed just for one user or without Administrator rights.
You could have the OS installed on each HDD if you'd like. The key should work, since it's the same PC and you'll never have both operating systems running at the same time.
Read here for details on dual boot: http://www.howtogeek.com/187789/dual-booting-explained-how-you-can-have-multiple-operating-systems-on-your-computer/
 

010010

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As he only has one windows key, dual booting is not what he should do. You can have both users on the same operating system and have them use seperate disks for storage, the one using the HDD with windows will have less storage however. It may be worth using partitions to achieve this, this will allow you to specify the amount of storage you want available to each user meaning more control.
 

Why exactly do we want to do this?
I'd suggest a slightly different approach:
1. Install windows in HDD #1
2. partition HDD #2, so that it has partition for user #1 and user #2 (basically divide the disk in half)
3. mount each partition to profile of each user (c:\users\username1 and c:\users\username2)

That way cat images and savegames will go into partitions that belong to their respective users.


Or - you can do the same thing with 3 hard drives:
HDD #1 - for OS,
HDD #2 - profile of user 1,
HDD #3 - profile of user 2.
 
Solution

010010

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Regardless of why, what and who this is the best, and most simple solution to the problem you described. You can create partitions using the Disk managment tool that is available on windows or through the Command interface. I would recommend Disk Managment or third party tool as the CMD can be quite confusing. If you are unsure of partitions, look no further.
 
Hi,
SAVE GAMES and other data will be stored in the correct folder.

They are usually in the "Documents" folder. If you check the path that is actually:

"C:\Users\jeffrey\Documents\"

That is with the administrator "jeffrey". If I added another user such as "carolyn" then when she logs in she should get her own Documents folder.

So..

#1) decide who is administrator, then setup the computer

#2) Add another account

#3) when using, make sure you SIGN OUT (or shut down) and have the other user SIGN IN to their own account

#4) *PASSWORDS are strongly recommended to avoid using each others software.

#5) For STEAM you have a problem with saves. I think if you disable CLOUD saving (local only) you should be okay. If you login it should look in the correct DOCUMENTS folder for the person who is logged in. However, if it tried to use a CLOUD SAVE that would be tied to the Steam account (so you would start wherever the last person was).

Other:
The other solutions may not work, or can be too impractical.
 

Zkye

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As far as I know, you can dual boot using a single key, since it's the same computer.

Of course you can. But you can never completely block access for one user. What if I download some cat images that I don't want the other user to see? You can encrypt both HDDs so only the owner can access it. This way both can install whatever they want.
 


Licensing is confusing, but from what I read you can only install one copy of Windows, not two on the same machine.

Windows 10 may have change this, I don't know. They changed some terms such as "digital entitlement" instead of license.
 

010010

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What would dual booting using the exact same OS achieve? Sure it would reduce your available space on the disk by roughly 20GB and slow down the booting time but other than that it's pointless really. And as for encryption, if both users had strong passwords and were not given full admin rights, there accounts would be pretty secure unless one of the users was activley trying hard to get into the others account; it would probably be better just to have a single encrypted file / passworded ZIP file to save sensetive documents/pictures etc than to encrypt the entire thing.
 

010010

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As far as i'm aware licensing doesn't discriminate so if you did dual boot (which involves partitoning and so each OS is basically unaware of the other as it is handled in BIOS when you switch between them) then it wouldn't matter that it's on the same computer as if you typed the license in one partition when it came to the other it may ask for the license and see that it is already in use. Not that it is already in use as a seperate partition on the same device. I may be wrong but i'm pretty sure this is how it would work.
 

Zkye

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Privacy.
What about browsing history, passwords? There are programs that can't be installed for just one user or without admin rights.
 

KuronekoLP

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There are a lot of response and i didn't read them all yet. I want to address that the main reason for wanting User 1 having his own HDD and User 2 having their own HDD is because it's two different person with two different "projects".

So when User 1 logs into his windows account, all saved files he has are automatically saved on HDD1 and User 2 on HDD2 is the main goal here.

However, reading some of the responses, It's easier if i just tell them to save them on their respective HDD's. This PC will be for two kids who will use it for different reasons.
 
Again - you didn't answer the main question. Why do you need that?
Is that because of:
1. Privacy? So that user #1 cant access user #2 files.
2. Disk space separation? So user #1 can't use all available space for himself, while user #2 is left with nothing.
3. Data trasnfer? You want to remove HDD #1 and all user #1 files and transfer to another computer.
or any other reason?
 

010010

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Privacy? it's not hard for the user to switch which OS they are using, then they are faced with the windows user password, which would be Exactley the same as if they didn't have to go through the process of switching the Boot OS. Also im not aware of any software, which is not needed by the system, which can't be installed for an individual user.(and, as suggested, a partition would be used so you save to partitions seperatley) Also you can have some permissions while not having others, having permission to install applications while not being able to view another users files is an example of this.
 

010010

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You don't just need to tell them, you can set the permissions to only allow them to save to their HDD.

 

KuronekoLP

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I thought it was quite obvious when two users use a PC, but i guess i was wrong.
1. There are two HDD's that i want to use, both are 1TB respectively which is why i wanted 1TB/HDD for each user. Also again an obvious answer, privacy, two different people will be using the PC with two different reasons.

2. I doubt any of them will be able to completely fill the HDD but if both of them put both of their files on the same HDD, it might get filled and I'm not certain if they know how to save on the second HDD.

3. The HDD's will be new, nothing is in them as of yet.

I haven't used a PC with two users in a very long time, more than 15 years ago so my knowledge and memory is very vague/limited.
 

KuronekoLP

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010010

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1. Permissions will basically rule out the ability for a kid (presumably > 16) of bypassing the other users files. Also teaching them a little about IT security wouldn't be a bad idea.

2. If you set the default save location for each user to be the HDD you want them to use and set their permissions to not allow them to access the other users files this will solve the problem.

EDIT: also as i mentioned before, using only 2 HDD's means one must have the OS saved on theirs thus lowering the total space(Not much for a 1TB HDD). Also what are they actually doing on the PC?
 

So - the main reason is to effectively use 2 HDDs, right?

To my experience, most of HDD space is consumed by game installs and media files (music/videos/images).

Go with OS on HDD1, and user profiles on partitions of HDD2.
This way OS, programs and games will go into HDD1, user personal files will go into HDD2.
 

Zkye

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I'm pretty sure he wants to prevent any of the users to write on the other user's HDD or to delete/access his files.
 

010010

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I have been through that multiple times on this thread and it is not, from my understanding, the main thing he wants but a part of it. Also there is no need to get 2 1TB HDD's instead you should probably get a small SSD just for the OS and the HDD for user partitions.
 

KuronekoLP

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Not going for performance here, i have two extra spare 1TB HDD's and that's what I'll be using. Even if i get an SSD, they wouldn't notice the difference as long as it works they'll be happy.

Also, it's pretty much if not exactly what Zkye wrote. The main reason I'm throwing two 1TB HDD's is because each of them "gets" one for themselves. Even though one of the HDD's will have the OS on it, the size that the OS takes won't make a difference.

I just wanted to know if it's possible to just make it so that if User A saves anything, it stays on HDD1 and when User B saves anything, it goes to HDD2.
But this topic has gone on for too long, so I'll just do it a different way than i intended.



 

010010

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Again, use permissions to specify where they can / can not save. And you could for example call one "Timmy" and the other "Tilly" so the kid knows which is theirs(Names used as example).
 

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