Resolved I need advice about whether I need to format new hard drives

I'm about to replace the hard drives in my desktop tower with a new SSD hard drive for my C Drive and a new SATA HDD hard drive for my storage.

The SSD drive is 240 Gb and the HDD drive is 1,000 Gb.

After I've installed them into the tower, can I just install Windows 7 without first formatting the hard drives and, if not, what should I do? I can always reformat later, right?

I think, in the past, I've just installed Windows and done a quick format at the beginning of the installation of the Operating System. Can I do the same with these new hard drives?

Thank you,

bellisimo



Windows 7 Home Premium
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz 3.4 GHz
Installed Memory (RAM) 8.00 GB
System Type: 64-bit Operating System
C: Drive SanDisk Solid State 256 G

 

Have a look at this article by Arie:

http://www.helpwithwindows.com/Windows7/Optimize-Windows-7-for-use-with-Solid-State-Drive-page2.html
Neil.

 

Thank you, Neil.

 

Most (if not all) "new" drives come from the factory pre-formatted with the NTFS file system so to answer your question, you do not have to format them again. Yes, you can format later, but that will destroy all the data you already saved to the drives.

In regards to your comment about "Quick Format ", I would never do that on a new drive. All the quick option does is clear the file tables of data reporting to the OS that the drive has been formatted and is now empty. It does NOT format the drive or visit each storage location on the drive to ensure it is capable of storing data. And BTW, you cannot perform a quick format if a full format has not previously been done.

 

Thank you, Bill.

Forgive me. I used the wrong word. What I meant to say was that I can always 'partition' the drives later, not reformat.

bellisimo

 

Well, the problem there is repartitioning a drive after you have installed programs and saved files on it can be a problem too - to include wiping out everything on the disk. There are some excellent repartitioning programs (I use and recommend EASEUS Partition Master Home Edition "“ formally Partition Magic) but they are not risk free - especially when it comes to the boot drive. So I would recommend if you think you will be separate partitions, do it now, if possible. If doing it in the future, ensure you have viable backups beforehand.

 

Thanks, Bill,

That's a good idea. I have Acronis. I'll use it to back up both hard drives to an external hard drive. I'm not going to put anything other than the Operating System on the SSD drive and I'll install the Operating System onto the HDD as well and use it for storage.

Can I do that with the HHD drive, or do I need to partition it once I've loaded Windows before I can save any documents or pictures to it?

Thanks again,

b

 

Well, with a 240GB SSD, you have plenty of space to install the OS and all your program files too. That is what I did with my 256GB SSD and I am glad I did as now my apps like Word and Excel "pop open" at SSD speeds too. And I still have lots of room for Windows to operate in (store temp files, PF, etc.).

I see no reason to "install" the OS on the HD too. You will not be able to keep it updated properly and I can see the possibility of corruption. I would not do that.

What I do with my HD is use it for all data files, and to store a backup of my SSD.

My answer here is the same as my answer in my previous post.

 

Thanks again, Bill,

b

 

I thought I should mention that the SSD hard drive I bought is a Kingston SSDNOW 300 V.

I can still return it if anyone has had trouble with this drive. Please let me know if that is the case.

Thank you,

b

 

Kingston has a long history of providing quality memory products at affordable prices. Their SSD line is no exception.

I would not return something unless several users complained about the exact same problem.

 

Thanks, Bill,

I read some reviews this morning on Kingston's own website they apologized "for the issue with the SSDNOW V 3 someone had obviously had, they and went on to say that this model doesn't measure up to the stats of their competitors like Sam Sung and Seagate.

Customer reviews for this particular model were somewhat disappointing. I think I'll exchange it for another brand.

Thanks again,

b

 

You got a link to where Kingston says their products are inferior to Samsung and Seagate?

 

I'll see if I can find it later this afternoon as I'm on my way out to run some errands

 

Please don't forget because as a hardware guy, I sure would be interested in seeing that, and in understanding what way they would be considered inferior.

I note the slowest SSD is still many times faster than the fastest hard drive. I also note that better "performance" has nothing to do with reliability or longevity. And since likely talking a matter of a few milliseconds, I would contend any performance differences in the competing "lines" of products would be imperceptible to the human eye.

But, I stand with an open mind, until I see the source.

 

Hi Bill,

I've tried and tried to find the reviews I mentioned but, I can't find the page. The problem is that I don't remember the keywords I used when I did my Google search yesterday.

I'm glad I tried though because I read a lot of good information about the Kingston hard drive that I've decided to go with it. The only thing that worries me a little is that I saw somewhere that they only guarantee them for 3 years.

And, of course, there's always the possibility I might have been mistaken

Thanks again,

b

 

They, or that model, anyway, is warrantied for 3 years. But that is a lot better than 1 year and it is the same as the warranties for many SSDs by Samsung, PNY, Mushkin, and other makers.

Regardless, with no moving parts, there is no reason to expect any SSD made today will not outlast any harddrive.

 

Hi bellisimo, I have done a lot of research before I just recently bought my 250GB SSD and the Samsung 840 EVO is without a doubt the most popular.
Certain procedures you should follow when installing your SSD, it is required to have your AHCI enabled most newer Motherboards have it enabled as Default my ASUS did.
To contrary believe when installing Windows 8.1 64 Bit in my case it is Recomendet to do a Quick Format, yes I was surprised as well.It taken 1 second to do that.
I have done as you intend SSD for OS and important often used Programs.
You also need your Motherboard to be able to have Serial ATA 6.0 Gb/s connectors otherwise you could have a hard time configuring your BIOS.
You are OK with 1TB HDD because again older Motherboards handle only 2.2TB.

hawk22

 

Never seen that. Where is that recommended? And under what scenario? Got a link?

When installing an OS, I never do a quick format unless I know the condition and history of the disk. All a quick format does is clear or reset the boot sectors/MFT - "marking" the rest of the disk as available. None of the previously saved data is touched and more importantly, the disk is not tested for integrity.

A full format touches every single storage location on the disk, tests that sector for integrity, formats the sector to the file system, and updates the tables as necessary.

Oh? Why? I've not encountered that either. Certainly when buying a new board or devices you want SATA 6Gbps because that is the latest and fastest standard - so get what will carry you further into the future.

But SATA 6Gbps (SATA III) interfaces and devices are backwards and forwards compatible. That is, a SATA III interface will support SATA 2 devices just fine - without any configuration needed in the BIOS. And likewise, SATA III devices will run through SATA 2 interfaces just fine too - again without any configuration needed. The only downside is the bandwidth is limited by the slowest link.

You do not have to reconfigure anything when connecting SATA 2 with SATA3.

 

Guy guys,

Thanks for the input. I've obviously done something wrong and don't know how to fix it.

I don't remember how I formatted my new Kingston SSD, but although it works, after transferring files to it, it's not reading my Microsoft Office Word documents properly. Each document file looks like some type of Internet Explorer file and, in order to read the file, I have to click on 'Open With' and select Microsoft Office Word. Is there any way to change this to the way it should be working i.e. opening the files as Word Documents?

Thank you.