SSD as 'C' OS only, install all other apps etc on other HDs

Good Day again everyone.
Gregrocker and DavidE – Please ignore specs as shown – I was using a clapped out old Acer laptop to post at the time. I’ve done a clean install with MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit disc on a reformatted drive, no extras.
I used drivers from the Gigabyte site, Nvidia and Intel. There’s much conflicting advice as to whether to rely on Windows Updates (which failed half the time on the first attempt or manufacturer’s sites.
The antivirus was Avast and I now suspect did cause problems. But again the majority view is to install an anti virus app before using Windows Updates; I’m beginning to wonder about that.
I don’t have hibernate as an option.
No programs (apart from avast and LG’s Cyberlink Bluray drive utility are installed as yet. The sizes are as stated in my earlier post.
I’ve used Wiztree.
The first entry in the list is “ [12 files in C:\]” totaling 52.4 % of parent with a size of 28.2GB
When expanded, the list shows page file.sys is 56.7%, size is 16,0GB
And Hiberfil.sys. is42.5%, size 12 GB
The rest are MBs only
Windows is 35.9% 19.3GB
System volume information is 10.4% of Parent with a size of 5.6GB
The two prog folders are 3.5GB in total.
The remaining items in the tree total just over 1 GB.
I hope this provides useful information and if I need to take any remedial steps please let me knw.
I’m OK with Windows Mail – it’s happily running on my back up PC. It uses Vista program files and a couple of registry tweeks – I did this because years ago Windows Live and Outlook kept causing problems – and this didn’t.
Ignatzsonic - your links haven’t shown up. Any tutorials on this that work would be worth reading!

What conflicting advice re: Windows Update? WIth no SP2 the OS is heavily patched and cannot be expected to run correctly without all Important and Optional Windows Updates installed. This includes drivers. If you don't have all Windows UPdates then you effectively don't have Windows 7.

I don't' care what XP-era advice you're given about Windows Updates drivers not being advisable. The definitive study on this is the 1.5 million consumers who have followed Clean Reinstall Windows 7 methods without a single complaint or problem reported. So while this may have been debatable five years ago, it isn't any longer no matter what XPired advice you may have picked up online. The proof is in the pudding and there is no other sample of this size which comes close, and a sample of this size is not debatable by hearsay.

If you installed the Intel or Nvidia or mobo drivers then you probably have a lot of crapware which tags along with driver that starts with Windows and freeloads on resources. Be sure to turn it all off in msconfig>Startup and >Services after Hiding all MS Services. This is why to first accept the drivers Win7 wants and not force drivers it may not want which often include a lot of crap which is never needed.

The links for User Folders - Change Default Location
Change Virtual Memory Paging File

I already gave you the link to disable Hiberfile, however I would not do so as this is one of the modern conveniences perfected in Win7 so that you can walk away and not worry about coming back to Shutdown and your work will still be saved, RAM not worn by endlessly sleeping.

Hi guys,
Everything is up and running.
A couple of general questions on best practice.
Opinions on this and other forums seem split on whether to use drivers which Windows Updates will load or whether the manufacturer's are really the best. Would Windows Update really find all of them or ia it really essential to rely on the set up disc that came with the MoBo or the manufacturer's sites for some - eg USB 3 and audio?
Secondly is it better to postpone installing an antivirus app until Windows Updates completes (avoiding the web for any other activity except for updating Windows. I suspect that Avast did cause problems on the first attempt at installing Windows. Put it another way, is there any danger of attacks if a connection is made solely to run Windows Updates?

You should install the AV immediately after install, while you Check for Updates to begin installing all Important and Optional Updates.

Only after all Updates are installed with no more offered should you import any drivers still missing in the Device Manager. These steps are important enough they are printed in red in the tutorial so I don't understand why the question. Again as I explained in my last post, some stuck in XPired methods may still want to debate but this is not debatable after 1.5+ (now) million consumers have used Clean Reinstall Windows 7 without a single complaint or problems, making it one of the largest and most successful publications on the web.

A major problem to the relatively, but not totally ignorant, is knowing which advice on which forums is sound. My anti-virus app - Avast may, as someone suggested, have een a source of problems during my iniyial re-installation attempt.
Perhaps my question should have been better phrased to ask just when and how a PC with a newly installed OS is open to attack,? Is it as soon as it is connected to the internet or only after 'surfing' has started and sites opened? The question was designed both to increase my IT Knowledge but also to receive an answer to the particular problem I encountered first time -which wasted several hours before I went back to square 1. You'll appreciate the potential conflict. If Avast did make a mess of the first reinstall, it would not seem sensible to load it before updating Windows.

I would not use Avast. It was once co-equally recommended with MSE but gradually almost everyone here stopped recommending it because of the problems that came with it bloating up - like AVG years before.

You can be relatively assured of the advice given here because this is the undisputed top tech forums in web history, where we live and breathe Windows 7. Many of us have been here since before the OS was even released, observing trends in hundreds if not thousands of threads.

Thanks for advice on Avast. Is there a current "top of the pops"?
Any advice on the point raised in my second para would be welcomed - "just when and how a PC with a newly installed OS is open to attack? Is it as soon as it is connected to the internet or only after 'surfing' has started and sites opened?"
I'm pretty long in the tooth. I've long since realized that younger generations have all this know-how hard wired into them from birth. I've given up looking for books from which I can learn about all this stuff - the 'Idiots' and 'Dummies' just don't cover it. But I'm damned if I'm going to be written off as 'only fit for the scrap heap'. I didn't know about the tutorials. I did find the Newegg series on Youtube which were Windows 7 specific (not XP in the least) and very helpful - but there aren't enough hours in the day to trawl through everything. Rest assured I've saved the tutorials. The question remains, where can I actually learn all about this stuff instaed of having to rely on pleas for help?

Everything that works best for Win7 install is compiled in Clean Reinstall Windows 7.

Please read it through and then ask back any questions.