The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Duo Hard Drives--how do they work?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by Envelope, Dec 18, 2006.

  1. Envelope

    Envelope Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    15
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I know the benefits of using a dual hard drive, but how exactly do they function? I recently ordered an HP dv9000t with a 160gig dual hard drive (two 80gigs) and plan on having Windows installed on one hard drive while all my files on the other. Will my work (by default) be saved on the non-OS drive? Or do I have to edit the directory to the non-OS drive? Will I find folders like "My Documents" on both drives? Also, will I be able to choose which drive I install my programs on? Or is that strictly for the OS drive?
     
    Envelope, Dec 18, 2006
    #1
  2. Ice-Tea

    Ice-Tea MXM Guru NBR Reviewer

    Reputations:
    476
    Messages:
    1,260
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    All depends on how you set up you RAID. Check out the link for more info.
     
    Ice-Tea, Dec 18, 2006
    #2
  3. hmmmmm

    hmmmmm Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    633
    Messages:
    1,203
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    i'm not sure how the HD are configured on the dv9000t

    if they are like normal HD (not running in raid) you will be able to choose which drive you want to install programs on. you can install the OS on 1 drive and install programs on to another. only the drive with the OS will have my documents, the drive without the OS has nothing in it.

    your work by default will not be saved onto the other drive, you have to select where you want to save it.


    if the HD works in raid 0, then both your drive act as 1 drive, then you will have 2x faster seek times and both drives will work in unison and give you 1 160gig drive
     
    hmmmmm, Dec 18, 2006
    #3
  4. TehStranger

    TehStranger Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    33
    Messages:
    220
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Downside to Raid 0 is that if a physical problem occurs on any of the drives, then the whole file system is screwed, even though the other drive is fine.
    I personally would not set Raid at all and just have two separate drives with their own file management.
     
    TehStranger, Dec 18, 2006
    #4
  5. dietcokefiend

    dietcokefiend DietGreenTeaFiend

    Reputations:
    2,291
    Messages:
    3,023
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    106
    Can't be recommended enough. RAID0 is not for the faint of heart.
     
    dietcokefiend, Dec 18, 2006
    #5
  6. stamar

    stamar Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    454
    Messages:
    6,802
    Likes Received:
    102
    Trophy Points:
    231
    even though the hp 9000 can have 2 hard drives i dont think it can have raid 0

    your 2nd hard drive will be a different drive letter and if you want to save to it youd say open G or whatever its letter is.
     
    stamar, Dec 18, 2006
    #6
  7. JaySmuv

    JaySmuv Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    53
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I have a 9000t.

    You have two drive letters. The OS is on C and D is empty.

    Right away, I changed the My Documents folder location to the D drive. I'll be keeping all of my personal files on D. That way, when I finally get sick of the bloated MCE install that came on it, I can format C and install a clean version without having to mess with any personal files.
     
    JaySmuv, Dec 18, 2006
    #7
  8. Jalf

    Jalf Comrade Santa

    Reputations:
    2,883
    Messages:
    3,468
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    Nope, you get slower seek times, not faster. The total bandwidth goes up though, but that's not as universally useful as seek times are.

    Anyway, as said above, they'll simply show up as (at least) two separate drive letters. By default, Windows expects you to install everything on the same drive (typically C :), although whenever you install a program you can obviously specify a different path.
    What I'd do is, as JaySmuv said, move the My Documents folder to your D: drive. That way, all (or most of) your data is kept on a disk separate from the OS, which makes it a lot easier to reinstall in the future.
     
    Jalf, Dec 18, 2006
    #8