Question / Drives and Windows 7

[sbattisti]

Hi folks,

I'm about to embark on my first build of my own machine (*nervous*). Based on a number of recommendations, I have purchased both a 64GB solid-state drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233092) and a regular ol' Western Digital 750 GB hard drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136283). I'm pretty much a novice when it comes to this sort of thing, but it's my understanding that the SSD is fundamentally far faster, and the general idea should be to install the OS/applications on the SSD, and use the regular HDD for data.

Given that, a few questions:

1. Are my assumptions above correct?

2. Windows 7 will be new to me, but I know that XP was pretty hinky if you wanted your "My Documents" anywhere other than the drive where the OS is installed. Does anyone know what's involved in telling Windows 7 I want all of my user data stored on my hard drive instead of the SSD?

3. On which drive should the page file be stored?

4. Many moons ago, there was something about larger drives needing to be partitioned into smaller ones - something to do with the minimum file size for various system types? At any rate, I suspect the best practices around that may have changed. Should I just have a C: (SSD) and a D: (non-SSD), and that's all? Or would there be some technical reason why I should partion the 750GB drive?

5. Are there any other things I should take into consideration when building / configuring this machine?

Thanks!

Steve

[The Wise Monkey]

1. Yes
2. Windows 7 and Vista allow you to specify where all the various folders should be located. If you go into C:\Users\(your username) and right click each folder in turn, there should be an option called "Location" - change this to your other hard drive, and there you go.
3. The page file can go on the larger drive to improve performance
4. It may be slightly faster to defragment individual partitions as opposed to an entire hard drive, but there isn't that much difference.
5. Have fun. :)

[sbattisti]

5. Have fun. :)

You are a Wise Monkey indeed.

Thanks very much! :D

Steve