Question about new 160 Gig HD

[Owen]

I just got a WD 160 gig (8meg cache 7200 rpm) HD to replace my old 60 gig I used as my D: storage drive. I am wondering if it is better to use the 160 gig as my main C: and make my current C: 120 gig (8meg cache 7200 rpm) HD the storage drive? I am running NTFS with WinXP and SP1 and am looking for the least amount of problems since I like to reinstall Windows every few months to clean out all the junk. I did notice that when I used the WD HD Install CD in Dos, it put a limit on the HD at 137 gig till I got into Windows and ran the utility again to regain the full 160 gig. Any info or insights would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[RS3RS]

In my opinion, it doesn't really matter which is your boot (C:\) drive, seeing as the specs on both of them are pretty close. However, if you want to get technical, I would put the most important data on the newer drive, as it hasn't been used as much and probably has more life left in it than a drive that has been used for a while, and theoretically you might be less likely to lose your important data due to a drive going out. But again, it really doesn't matter. Take your pick. :)

You seem to have found the 137 gig partition bug that lots of simi-older hardware has. If you've gotten it to work and recognize the whole 160 gb, then I wouldn't worry about it unless you have problems in the future. However, if you want more information, try reading this post found in the data storage section:

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1026129864#post1026129864

Good luck :)

[Owen]

Thanks for the info. I guess I put this topic in the wrong forum as I did not notice the Disk Storage Systems forum until I followed your link. It looks like from the info I read in the link that it is better to keep the 120 gig as the main C: drive since this 137 gig bug would pop up once again when I reinstall Windows XP since I do not have an intergrated version with SP1. I used to do a cheat clean install in Fat 32 by renaming the Windows, Documents and Setting and Program Files folders so that I can keep the other data still on the drive and then when Windows is done installing, I delete the folders I renamed and reinstall all my games and software. I have not tried it yet since I switched to NTFS on my last install but I am hoping I can use FreeDos to do the same.

[Falls Included]

i usually have the bigger drive as the second drive... better for backup... who needs a 160gb OS drive? my raptor is doing fine on its own with far cry, ut2004, halo, and 2 c&c games on it

[ComputerBox34]

Why don't you just make the old 60 GB drive the drive for the OS and the new 160 GB for your Data?

[Paragon]

Why don't you just make the old 60 GB drive the drive for the OS and the new 160 GB for your Data?

If at all possible [if not sent to RMA], and the 60GB is a nice drive, I would almost go for that [athough it probably doesn't have the 8MB cache.. tis a toss-up]. I have and 80GB for main.. partitioned into 4 for OS, Files, Program Files folder, and gaming partition. A second 80GB has a 3GB partition on the end for the swap file. [might make room for temp.. not sure] and have a 160GB for whatever.. eventually may put all music/CDs on there. I am in dire need of a good cleanup to get rid of old files I dont need and backup what I do need on CD. Too many New Folders, Temps, multiple copies around.

I build a system for a friend and used a 20GB for C: and a 60GB for secondary. Still need to get back there to switch the swap file to the secondary.