0

Second question ever posted here, and this one has been on my mind a while...

I built a computer at the end of the last summer; I'm using a Samsung 120GB SSD as the boot drive, and a Western Digital 2TB HDD as a secondary drive. The obvious issue with running this setup is the storage constraint with using an SSD drive.

I currently have the following basic configuration:

  • Windows (and soon Linux) installed on the SSD for booting.
  • Moved libraries (My Music, Documents, Downloads, etc.) over to the root of my HDD.
  • All other "files" (projects, code, whatever) are on the HDD.

Even with this setup, I am still running out of space on my SSD quite rapidly... the big killer I believe is program files, which I still have loaded on the SSD. I could also see cache and similar data hogging space on the SSD as well...

I once tried to move all my program files to the HDD: I made a script which moved all the files to an identical file heiarchy on the HDD, and then replaced - where they were on the SSD - with symbolic links... I'm not sure why this failed, as I thought symbolic links were treated identically to the actual files they pointed to... Obviously I misunderstood something.

So, I have the following questions:

  1. Does anyone have any advice for how I could maximize efficient use of my SSD + HDD combo? I would settle with a slight compromise in speed if it meant a big increase in avaliable storage on the SSD...

  2. Should I be installing applications on the secondary HDD?

  3. Can I move any system components over to the HDD to save space?

    Thanks!

Improve this question
1
  • the best is to buy a larger SSD. A smaller SSD and moving data is always a hassle.
    – magicandre1981
    Commented Dec 15, 2013 at 17:13

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
0

Well, first off, simply migrating your program files folder to the HDD is a real bad idea, because you haven't considered the massive role that the Windows Registry plays in how programs are installed. The work involved in "moving" a software installation to another location is usually massive work because there are likely thousands of registry entries that reference the program's currently location on the SSD.

My recommendation would be to either buy a bigger SSD, clone your Windows drive to it, and leave your programs there, or uninstall your programs and cleanly reinstall them to the HDD.

My setup at home is similar to yours, but I have a folder on my HDD called "Software Install", where I install all my programs rather than on the SSD. I only install the programs in which performance is crucial to my SSD.

Improve this answer
1
  • 1
    Sorry about the VERY late reply, I thought I had accepted this already. Hmm, I've actually already started doing the same thing you're doing; I have visual studio, photoshop, etc on my SSD, and then office and the like on my HDD. Also, I completely understand what you are saying about the registry; I actually am a software developer. I had just never used symbolic links before, and from what I had read, they were supposed to behave EXACTLY as if the original file was still there... obviously I was mistaken, and it seems that at a low system level they are not treated this way.
    – araisbec
    Commented Jan 12, 2014 at 4:12

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .