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Two hard drives, but one is not being used.
I recently purchased a Dell Inspiron 3020 with 2 hard drives, a 256GB SSD and a 1TB HDD. I also use an external SSD plugged into a USB port for all my data files. I use my external SSD for my data to protect the files, the hard drive on my previous computer crashed and lucky that all my data was ok, I also had to evacuate two years ago from an approaching forest fire and I just grabbed the drive.
The internal SSD is shown as OS (C:) and the HDD is shown as DATA (D:). The internal SSD is half full with operating system and all installed apps, the HDD is empty. Since I am sending all my data files to my external SSD, will the internal HDD DATA drive ever be used? What happens if the internal SSD gets full, will the system start using the HDD DATA drive? Any way I can use the internal HDD for some of the installed apps?
Thanks, Bob
Chino de Oro
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March 22nd, 2024 02:15
You can go to Settings => System => Storage => then expand Advanced storage settings. Select Where new content is saved. From there, you can change where your apps will be saved by selecting DATA (D) drive.
RoHe
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March 22nd, 2024 18:21
If you really want to move previously installed apps from C: to D:, you have to uninstall them in Windows first, and then reinstall them, directing the installation onto D:. So make sure you have the product keys for any apps you want to move to D: drive.
FWIW, Microsoft makes it very difficult to install Office on any drive that doesn't also have Windows on it. If you already have Office installed on C:, you probably should leave it there, with Windows set to save .doc, .xlsx files etc on D: drive. There are also some other apps that want to be on same drive with the OS too...
fobagbob
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March 22nd, 2024 02:40
Perfect, thanks for that. So now any future installed apps will be put on DATA (D), how can I move some apps already installed on OS (C) to (D), do I have to uninstall and reinstall them?
Chino de Oro
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March 22nd, 2024 02:49
Depending on your planning for future installing apps. I suggest that you also want to select drive D for everything else except apps, keep current apps on drive C due to the performance of fast SSD versus slower HDD. For everyday usage, users likely to add more data than apps.
(edited)
fobagbob
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March 22nd, 2024 19:14
Good info, thanks. I do use Office a lot so I will definitely leave it on C:, I am thinking I will leave Firefox on C: as well since I use it daily. I am looking at other apps that I have previously installed and if they are casual use I will uninstall and reinstall on D:, and with future new app installations now going on to D: I should be set.
RoHe
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March 23rd, 2024 00:37
I also use Firefox and it's installed on my C: drive, but the Firefox user profile, bookmarks, temp files, etc are all stored on the D: drive.
Read/follow these instructions if you want to move those files to D: drive. Strongly suggest you create a System Restore point first before making any changes, and I'd also save a copy of the existing Firefox profile.ini file somewhere safe before editing it, just in case...
When I did this, I started by creating a D:\Firefox folder on D: drive. Then I moved (not copied) the identified profile folder from C: into the D:\Firefox folder.
When editing the profile.ini file in Notepad, be sure to include the entire folder name at the new location, eg D:\Firefox\my_profile_folder_name. If you only enter D:\Firefox as the location, FF isn't going to find the profile. In that case, just re-edit the profile.ini file.
FWIW, the Firefox files being stored on my D: drive save ~350 MB from being stored on C: (SSD). And since these Firefox files are written, rewritten, deleted frequently, you can save some read/write wear on the SSD.