2 HDs question

Discussion in 'Computer Science & Culture' started by Syzygys, Nov 16, 2008.

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  1. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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    When I have 2 HDs, how does the computer decide during general usage which one to use? Let's say if all the programs are on the Master drive and I only use the Slave for back up (manual) then the Slave shouldn't even be used, correct? So if I download files and such everything goes to the master drive I assume until it gets too full....

    I just backed up the important files on the Slave and I plan to physically disconnect it, and I would only reconnect every other month or so when I do back ups. Is it overdoing it? I really don't need the extra space, and I don't see why it should be powered at all, when I don't need it...
     
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  3. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    In your bios you can choose which one that you want as the master and slave. The computer will then always use the master whenever it boots up unless you change it. The slave is there only when you want to use it when it is on for you must go to that HD in your "my computer" setting and click on it to open it up. It isn't important to turn it off for unless you have it opened nothing can get to it. You won't save much electricity either turning it off so the choice is yours. I unplug mine though.

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  5. Repo Man Valued Senior Member

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    The drive that has the OS on it is used by default for everything. You could direct programs to install to either another drive or another partition on the same drive, but it isn't something you would normally do. And when you want to save things, you are always asked where you want to save them.

    Having multiple drives has no down sides that I'm aware of, other than a slight increase in power consumption. I can't imagine it would be worth bothering to disconnect it.
     
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  7. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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    Well, disconnecting it has advantages:

    1. No disconnected drive got EVER infected.

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    2. No need for it to spin for weeks without being used.
    3. Less usage on the power. It isn't for saving on electricity but on the amper power of the power supply...
     
    Last edited: Nov 16, 2008
  8. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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    I choose by the pins not in the bios... The pin setup tells to the drive if it is treated as a master or slave...
     
    Last edited: Nov 16, 2008
  9. Dinosaur Rational Skeptic Valued Senior Member

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    Folks, you decide where data goes, not the OS.

    For years, I have run systems with three hard disks.
    • OS & software assigned to Disk 0 (C-Drive).

    • Data to Disk 1 (The second Disk). You have to tinker a bit to get Word Processors, Spread Sheets, et Cetera to conveniently get & put documents on the second disk.

    • Page File & backup data to the third disk.
    The above organization minimizes head movement, which is time consuming & causes wear & tear on the mechanical parts of hard disks.

    I also partition my hard disks. When I bring up Windows Explorer, it looks like I have about 13 hard disks. When you have Gigabytes of data, multi[le partitions allow for better organization.

    To me, it is weird to have a 500GB disk set up as one big partition. It is like having a file cabinent with one drawer 20 feet deep.
     
  10. Syzygys As a mother, I am telling you Valued Senior Member

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    I still haven't disconnected the 2nd HD, and I can actually hear when it quicks in, so it is apparently not spinning most of the time...

    But yes, my set up is similar than yours....
     
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