Two Internal HDDs


  1. Posts : 24
    Windows 7 - Home Premium - 64 bit
       #1

    Two Internal HDDs


    In choosing my new Laptop I have a choice of one 500Gb HDD or two 250Gb HDDs

    The 500GB is not Partitioned but I am assured that two 250Gb HDDs will appear in Windows as two Drives and that I can use these two Drives in the same way as one Drive Partitioned into two, which is what I'm used to

    What are the advantages\disadvantages of having two HDDs?

    Thank you
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 1,996
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
       #2

    One advantage.....Windows 7 Backups.

    One drive as the primary drive.
    The second drive as the backup drive.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 5,056
    Windows 7 x64 pro/ Windows 7 x86 Pro/ XP SP3 x86
       #3

    I would choose multiple drives. You can have a raid 1 kind of setup with one drive mirrored to the other providing complete redundancy. OTOH, if storage space is important for you, the second drive can be used simply for keeping/backing up all important data or alternatively in a raid 0 setup. Multiple hard drives protect from mechanical failure and give you more options.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 7,730
    Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-Bit
       #4

    p5bdkw said:
    One advantage.....Windows 7 Backups.

    One drive as the primary drive.
    The second drive as the backup drive.
    Good advice. Whenever I buy a new computer the first thing I do is create a data/backup partition so I don't lose any important stuff if I have to reinstall.

    Also, two smaller hard drives are quicker to search or defrag than one large one.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 12,012
    Windows 7 Home Premium SP1, 64-bit
       #5

    thingy said:
    In choosing my new Laptop I have a choice of one 500Gb HDD or two 250Gb HDDs

    The 500GB is not Partitioned but I am assured that two 250Gb HDDs will appear in Windows as two Drives and that I can use these two Drives in the same way as one Drive Partitioned into two, which is what I'm used to

    What are the advantages\disadvantages of having two HDDs?

    Thank you
    Disadvantage: 2 possible points of failure instead of one.

    Disadvantage: I'm guessing with 2 250s, you will end up with a C of 250 on 1 drive and a D of 250 on the other. I wouldn't call that ideal. If you had a single 500, you would probably partition it into something like 100 C and 400 D--or a C of 500; either of which would be preferable in my mind to 250 C and 250 D.

    Advantage: You can backup the C 250 to the D 250.

    Best possible choice: A single internal 500, with another (presumably external) drive as backup.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 24
    Windows 7 - Home Premium - 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #6

    Thanks for your Replies - I'll go for the 2 x 250Gb
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 7,730
    Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-Bit
       #7

    OK, post back if you have any problems.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 26,869
    Windows 11 Pro
       #8

    Another advantage of 2 Hard Drives is replacing one with an SSD for the OS and using the other for user files.
      My Computer


 

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