Windows 7 - How should I partition/configure my two 500GB hard drives ?

Well currently I'm using just 1 500GB hard drive in my laptop. I've got Windows 7 and all my programs installed on it and it's not partitioned. When I bought my computer a few months ago it came with 2 500GB hard drives, and shortly after I took one 500GB out because I wasn't using it, however now I want to make use of both of them together and want the best possible system configuration.

Honestly I've never really bothered playing around with partitioning hard drives in all my computer years. I've always used the default configuration which is just using the entire hard drive for Windows and all the programs and games.

Also, I'm not really familiar with RAID, I've heard of it however would anyone be able to point me in the right direction as to the best way to set my system up for kick ass performance !

Thanks and just so you know I believe both of my hard drives are spinning at 7200RPM.

Just keep it simple. Just reinstall the drive. A raid setup won't add any real performance IMHO.

Ken

lol I like your philosophy KISS ! Keep it simple Stupid !

I agree with ken9122. RAID will not really improve your performance on your system drive, and can be cumbersome to fix if problems arise. The easiest way to make the most of any performance available, is to install all your applications to the 2nd drive.

Thanks have you guys got any guides and or tutorials on how to do this ?

Check the totorial section on this forum,top of the page.

1. I am not a big fan of ripping the OS apart. I keep mine on a SSD which gave my system a considerable boost.
2. As for your configuartion, first I would define a seperate Data Partition. That keeps your data safe in case of a crash and you do not have to worry about the data in case of a restore. The size is a matter of the amount of data you anticipate.
3. For the OS, 50GBs is enough under normal conditions. Should you have a lot of games, 100 to 150GBs may be safer.
4. On the second disc I would allocate an imaging partition of about 250GBs. That gives you plenty of space to keep a significant amount of images. Imaging your system at frequent intervals is the best insurance against all kinds of unforseen troubles. Imaging with free Macrium
5. Another partition I always define on the second disk is for videos. For one it speeds up image editing if it is seperate from the OS and then you have ample space for videos that can take quite a lot of room.

Thanks man I like that configuration, I'm going to try that out tonight ! Pulling an all nighter once again !

Good. It should not take all night. All that can be easily done in less than 1 hour. Regarding the data partition: It is important that you first define folders in that new partition and move your user folders from C to those folders (e.g. Folder1 for Documents, Folder2 for Pictures, etc.). DO NOT move them to the partition itself. That will make a mess. The names of those new folders do not matter because the system will rename them properly after you moved them from C.