Solved optimal settings for 60gb ssd with 1.5 tb hdd

[madgrind]

I recently had to do a new installation of W7 because of corrupt registry. I did not have a restore point because of a SSD tweaker that was installed and disabled restore points. Im trying to find out best way to set up my hdd and ssd so i can utilize back up software on the hdd

SSD- 60gb Vertex II (new)
HDD- 1.5 Seagate 7200 rpm 6gb/s (new)
HDD-500 WD 7200 rpm 3gb/s (about 3 years old)

This machine is for video editing, music, and some gaming.

The board I have does utilize 6gb/s sata connections. I have unplugged all drives except the 60gb SSD and installed windows 7 ultimate 64 bit. I now have the other two HDD connected and they are empty. Should I ditch the 500 gb hd and partition the 1.5 tb? I previously used a 32gb ssd for windows 7 and installed all other large programs ( office, nero, photoshop,etc...) on a 50 gb partition of the 500gb hd leaving me with 45o gb for movies, and music. That seemed to work fine till registry was corrupted. Should I continue with that set up and use the 1.5 tb in the same way I previusly used the 500gb hd? And take the old 500 gb hd out of the scenario? I am wondering how well the 1.5tb does with partitions and if I even need to partition it. As long as I can back this up so I dont lose stuff again. Thank you in advance.

Motherboard-M5 A99X EVO
CPU-AMD IIX4 965
VGA- Nvidia Geforce 8800gt in sli mode
RAM-8gb DDR3
PSU-750W
Window 7 Ultimate 64 bit

 

[kegobeer]

I have an 80GB SSD. Other than disabling superfetch, I don't do anything different than I would with a standard drive. I install my applications to the SSD and keep my essential data on another partition on the SSD, or if I have two drives, I keep essential data on the second drive.

Partitions are not evil - don't worry!

 

[pparks1]

Partitions aren't really necessary. Myself, I would just leave it as one complete drive and just back it up.

The only time I waver with this would be if I used a single hard drive. For example, if I had a 1TB hard drive..I might setup a 120GB C drive for my OS, and leave the rest as D for the data. Then, I could image C to D on a regular basis. This would allow me to reset to my image and not lose any of my data.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I don't know how much data you have, but I'll assume it won't all fit on the SSD.

I'd use the SSD for Windows and all possible apps.

I'd use the new 1.5 TB HDD for all data, probably with just a single partition.

I'd at least consider installing the old 500 GB internally and using it as some form of backup. Or maybe mount it in an external enclosure if you prefer.

I have an 80 gig SSD and briefly had a small partition on it for some of my most frequently accessed data. I soon ditched that idea because it complicated my backup strategy and the access times were nearly as fast on an HDD.

Unless you have some special circumstance, I wouldn't make multiple partitions on the 1.5 TB data drive---I'd just separate my data on it through a folder structure.

 

[madgrind]

thanks for rapid responses...

The issue raised was not being having a back up or restore point. My data (movies, music,etc) is about 400 gb and I have just put it on the 1.5 tb. Can i back up Operating System so if I have problems with registry in the future I can have a restore point somewhere other than the SSD?

Here is my plan:
Keep W7 on 60 gb SSD
Use the 1.5 tb for data, and some programs like photoshop and video editing
Keep the 500 gb in for back up?
No partitions on any drive just folders?
Any suggestions for back up software?

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Your plan looks OK.

You can make an image of your Windows partition and store it on the 500 GB or 1.5 TB drive. Suggested apps for that would be Macrium Reflect Free Edition, EaseUS Todo Backup Free version, or Acronis (free download from WD). You could also make an image with Windows own built-in program, but it can be testy and a bit cryptic.

For file by file backup of your data, the common suggestions are Syncback, Synctoy, Cobian, Karen's Replicator, or Second Copy. Most of those are free downloads. I'd recommend you do a file by file data backup of some kind, rather than relying on an image. Robocopy will also do the job if you don't mind using a batch file instead of a GUI.

In my experience, Windows System Restore works quite well, so with any luck it will bail you out of many situations and you may never have to actually restore an image. Images are not foolproof, so you have to be prepared for them to completely let you down.

If you don't use hibernation, you can get rid of the hibernation file and that will save you a decent chunk of space on the SSD.

Likewise, after you install Windows 7 on the SSD, take a look at the amount of space dedicated to System Restore points. I have mine set for about 7 GB, which is typically good for at least a dozen restore points, dating back several weeks.