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ARmilkweed
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February 14th, 2018 14:00
Windows 10pro - installing programs on second hard drive?
XPS 8920 with OS on SSD; second 2TB hard drive for programs?
I would prefer to use the SSD for OS files only and install and run all programs on the second drive. Since the computer is arriving with the two drives already in place, when a program is installed, will I be asked where I wish to install each new program? Will there be a hierarchy of folders in place on the second drive as there is normally found with Windows 7 or would programs installed on the D: drive simply reside at the root level of the drive? If I wanted to purchase a larger SSD could I image the first drive (I assume the C: drive), then restore to a larger SSD and use the larger SSD to install and run everything? I use a large Samsung Pro 960 SSD on my old Win 7Pro desktop and run everything from it. Needless to say, I've never seen Windows 10 in operation.
Thank you for taking time to read.
Windows 10 gives you the option of installing programs on another drive. In "All Settings/System/Storage/Change where new content is saved" there are options to save new apps, new documents, new music, new photos, new movies, and offline maps to a location other than C: drive.
When you install the programs on the secondary hard drive you may have to use the custom installation option if available. Some programs do not have this option and default to c: drive. See this article: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-install-apps-separate-drive-windows-10
ejn63
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Posted February 14th, 2018 15:00
Most programs will install inside a "Program Files" folder, even on a secondary drive.
Some part of every program you install will still reside on the C: partition - if nothing else, the registry settings are stored there. And yes, you can then migrate C: to a larger SSD, leaving the programs installed on the hard drive.
That said, for disc-intensive programs particularly, you will take a performance hit running from a spinning hard drive vs. from a native SSD. For Office, it won't be much - for other applications, such as games, the hit may be substantial, depending on how much swapping to memory from the disc takes place.