Windows 8.1 Boot Disk and System Data
Windows 8.1 Boot Disk and System Data
You’re looking to isolate your 128GB SSD for booting while keeping the rest of the storage on the HDD. There’s no built-in “trick” that changes the OS’s perception of drives, but you can configure boot settings manually. Check your BIOS/UEFI options to set the boot order so the SSD starts first and the HDD follows. This way, the system will load from the SSD without needing other files to be present.
Instead of naming the hard drive individually, you can connect a folder to it, though your system will automatically set up all components on the SSD by default.
128GB SSD EXCLUSIVELY for Windows? That’s quite a lot of storage. 128GB is enormous, and I’m sure it can handle all your needs too. I own a 128GB drive and have successfully installed Dreamwaver, Visual Studio 2010, Visual Studio 2013, Office 2013, Firefox, StarCraft 2, plus many standard programs. There’s still plenty of space for updates, temporary files, and more. For the past two years, I’ve used this SSD without any worries about running out of room. If you install only Windows, the main advantage is a quicker boot time. However, programs that start up will be slower because they’ll load from the HDD, just like before. You don’t need special settings—Windows offers options. Just right-click on files or folders, choose properties, go to the Location tab, and specify where you want them stored. Pick a folder on your HDD, click OK, then Windows will prompt whether you want to copy or move. If it asks about Temp, AppData, or ProgramFiles, you’ll need to enable those options. Otherwise, you can proceed safely. If you do, be prepared for a possible OS reinstall if things don’t work as expected.
Ok thank you. I will mess around with the SSD when I get it and see how much I can store on it. Bascially what you're saying, is boot to the SSD, put boot start-up programs and a few other smaller programs on the SSD, then everything else on a HDD?
I would install the SSD: -> Windows -> All my programs -> Currently playing games might work. This depends on the number and size of your applications, as well as how many games you have running. If you use Steam, placing your games there can be tricky since you can't have two separate folders; it should be where Steam is installed. You might want to explore creating symbolic links (see this guide for details) which could simplify the process. However, keeping games on the HDD may be simpler. The speed boost from an SSD is usually minimal, mainly affecting loading times slightly. Game performance will stay similar unless a game uses dynamic texture loading; regular defragmentation on a HDD should help. On your HDD: -> Games (with Steam), refer to the previous advice. -> Personal files such as Documents, Music, Videos, Pictures are easy to transfer as described earlier. These personal items don’t gain much from SSD speeds. Even large 1080p HD videos or Media Player 12 streams will load quickly off the drive. If Media Player 12 does this, it’s standard for most reliable video players, so you won’t face issues. Personally, I use a 256GB SSD on my desktop (128GB on my laptop), with everything stored there, including Windows 8 and Windows 10. I divided it into three partitions: Windows 8, Windows 10, and Programs+Games. I moved the Games folder to a separate partition just to avoid duplicate software between Windows versions. I often remove old games I haven’t played again, since I know they won’t be used. Some users back up their games onto another HDD or external drive for future playback, transferring them back to Steam’s directory to check for updates and launch the game.
I'm unsure about the exact sizes of those games, but it's worth a try. If needed, you could relocate the Steam folder to your hard drive.
Thanks! It seems your components will arrive ahead of schedule, so I’ll update you once everything is ready.