Solved Two Internal HDDs

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thingy

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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

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
PC SPECIALIST
OS
Windows 7 - Home Premium - 64 bit
CPU
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core
Motherboard
ASUS® P6X58D-E: DDR3, USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, 3-Way SLI
Memory
12GB SAMSUNG DDR3 TRI-DDR3 1333MHz (3 x 4GB)
Graphics Card(s)
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GT 430 - DVI,HDMI,VGA
Sound Card
Sound Blaster® Audigy™ SE (£19)
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung SyncMaster 913 TM
Screen Resolution
1281 x 1024
Hard Drives
C: 500GB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s

D: 500GB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s
PSU
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU
Case
PIANO BLACK ENIGMA CASE + 2 FRONT USB
Cooling
?SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER
Keyboard
Standard PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse
Microsoft USB IntelliMouse Optical (IntelliPoint)
Internet Speed
6.6 Mbps
Antivirus
Norton
Browser
IE 11
One advantage.....Windows 7 Backups.

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

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Custom Build
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
CPU
Intel Core i7-4790
Motherboard
GA-Z87X-D3H
Memory
G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 F3-10666CL9D-8GBNT
Graphics Card(s)
AMD Radeon R7 250
Sound Card
Realtek ALC892
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung UN32EH5000, Dell 1703FPT
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080, 1280 x 1024
Hard Drives
WD5003AZEX
WD10EZEX
Samsung HD103SJ
Samsung 128 GB 840 PRO
PSU
SeaSonic M12II SS-500GM
Case
Fractal Design Define R4
Cooling
Zalman CNPS9900ALED
Keyboard
Logitech K800
Mouse
Logitech M705
Internet Speed
16 Mbps
Antivirus
Avast
Browser
Firefox
Other Info
Bose Companion 2 Multimedia Speakers
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

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Too many to describe...
OS
Windows 7 x64 pro/ Windows 7 x86 Pro/ XP SP3 x86
p5bdkw said:
One advantage.....Windows 7 Backups.

One drive as the primary drive.
The second drive as the backup drive.
Click to expand...

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

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP Pavilion Elite 495UK
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-Bit
CPU
Intel Core i7 870 @ 2.93GHz
Motherboard
MSI 2A9C (CPU1)
Memory
8Gb Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 664MHz
Graphics Card(s)
nVidia GeForce GTX 460 1024MB dedicated RAM
Sound Card
Realtek HD Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
HP2310i
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080
Hard Drives
1x1954GB Hitachi HDS22020ALA 330 (RAID), 1x1954GB Hitachi External for backup and storage
PSU
460W
Case
HP Elite
Cooling
Air cooled
Keyboard
Logitech K750 solar-powered keyboard
Mouse
Logitech Wireless M180 mouse
Internet Speed
2Mb
Other Info
Pure Avanti Flow Internet Radio with iPod Dock, 64Gb iPod, HP USB Speakers, Sony MDR-V500 Headphones, Sony Vaio F-Series Laptop
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
Click to expand...

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

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Ignatz Special; 4 speed manual gearbox; factory air conditioning; one of one
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1, 64-bit
CPU
Intel Skylake i5-6600K, not overclocked
Motherboard
AsRock Z170M Extreme 4, micro ATX
Memory
8 GB HyperX DDR4-2666 (2 x 4 GB)
Graphics Card(s)
none; graphics are integrated on CPU
Sound Card
onboard: Realtek ALC1150; external: USB Behringer UF0-202
Monitor(s) Displays
Dell S2340M 23 inch IPS
Screen Resolution
1600 x 900
Hard Drives
System: Crucial MX100 series SSD, 128 GB;
Data: Samsung Spinpoint 103SJ, 1 TB;
Backup: WD Caviar Green WD30EZRX-00D8PB0, 3 TB
PSU
Rosewill SilentNight 500 watt fanless, semi-modular
Case
Antec Solo II
Cooling
Noctua NH-U12S; Noctua F12 intake, Noctua S12A exhaust
Keyboard
Microsoft 200 6JH-00001 USB
Mouse
Dell or Microsoft optical wired; USB
Antivirus
Microsoft Security Essentials and Malwarebytes Premium
Browser
Pale Moon
Other Info
All fans PWM; speeds at idle: CPU circa 500 rpm; intake circa 600 rpm; exhaust circa 600 rpm; CPU temps 27 idle and 47 C load in a warm room (27 C/81 F) when running Intel Extreme Tuning Utility stress test.
Thanks for your Replies - I'll go for the 2 x 250Gb
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
PC SPECIALIST
OS
Windows 7 - Home Premium - 64 bit
CPU
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core
Motherboard
ASUS® P6X58D-E: DDR3, USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, 3-Way SLI
Memory
12GB SAMSUNG DDR3 TRI-DDR3 1333MHz (3 x 4GB)
Graphics Card(s)
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GT 430 - DVI,HDMI,VGA
Sound Card
Sound Blaster® Audigy™ SE (£19)
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung SyncMaster 913 TM
Screen Resolution
1281 x 1024
Hard Drives
C: 500GB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s

D: 500GB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s
PSU
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU
Case
PIANO BLACK ENIGMA CASE + 2 FRONT USB
Cooling
?SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER
Keyboard
Standard PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse
Microsoft USB IntelliMouse Optical (IntelliPoint)
Internet Speed
6.6 Mbps
Antivirus
Norton
Browser
IE 11
OK, post back if you have any problems. :thumbsup:
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP Pavilion Elite 495UK
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-Bit
CPU
Intel Core i7 870 @ 2.93GHz
Motherboard
MSI 2A9C (CPU1)
Memory
8Gb Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 664MHz
Graphics Card(s)
nVidia GeForce GTX 460 1024MB dedicated RAM
Sound Card
Realtek HD Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
HP2310i
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080
Hard Drives
1x1954GB Hitachi HDS22020ALA 330 (RAID), 1x1954GB Hitachi External for backup and storage
PSU
460W
Case
HP Elite
Cooling
Air cooled
Keyboard
Logitech K750 solar-powered keyboard
Mouse
Logitech Wireless M180 mouse
Internet Speed
2Mb
Other Info
Pure Avanti Flow Internet Radio with iPod Dock, 64Gb iPod, HP USB Speakers, Sony MDR-V500 Headphones, Sony Vaio F-Series Laptop
Another advantage of 2 Hard Drives is replacing one with an SSD for the OS and using the other for user files.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
    ALWAYS UNDER CONSTRUCTION
    OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 5900X
    Motherboard
    Asus X570 Crosshair Viii Hero
    Memory
    32GB G Skill DDR4-3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA RTX 3080 FTW 3 Ultra
    Sound Card
    On Board/Sennheiser PC37X Headset
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3 X Asus 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    2 X 1 TB NVME drives
    PSU
    EVGA 850
    Case
    Phanteks Eclipse P400A
    Cooling
    EVGA 280 AIO
    Keyboard
    Logitech G510s/ Logitech G13
    Mouse
    Logitech G502
    Internet Speed
    24/1
    Antivirus
    ESET/MBAM Pro/SAS Pro
    Browser
    Chrome/ Firefox/ Edge
  • Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model Number
    Dell 16 Plus
    OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    CPU
    Intel Ultra 9 288V
    Memory
    32 GB LPDDR5X 8533
    Monitor(s) Displays
    16" Mini-LED HDR600 Touch 90 Hz
    Screen Resolution
    2560X1600
    Hard Drives
    1 TB NVME
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