# 2 Hard Drives **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 4, 2002, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hard-drives/135188 "2002-11-04T07:49:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Duderdude2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Duderdude2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duderdude2)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hard-drives/135188/1 "2002-11-04T07:49:01Z")
My Sony Vaio has 2 Hard Drives, one 15gig and the other 60gig. The default is the 15gig one (everything is saved there, including desktop, etc), but it’s almost filled up. So how do I use both drives effectively? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hard-drives/135188/2 "2002-11-04T07:51:10Z")
Well, first off, you should start transferring bulky files and folders over to the larger hard drive. Any video files, music files, and/or games could be dumped there for mass storage. Any future programs you install, too, should be set to install to “D:\Program Files\whatever” instead of “C:\Program Files\whatever”. ---
**Author:** ![Duderdude2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Duderdude2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duderdude2)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hard-drives/135188/3 "2002-11-04T07:54:39Z")
Thanks! Is there a reason why they include 2 drives instead of 1? Also, does one ever run faster than the other? Can both seek data simultaneously? Finally, is there any way so desktop items are saved to the 60gig drive instead of the defaul, 15 gig one? ---
**Author:** ![Obvious\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Obvious\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obvious_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hard-drives/135188/4 "2002-11-04T08:02:04Z")
I would make the large drive my primary drive and the second for archives and media. Altho that would most likely require starting from scrating and moving the hard drives around. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hard-drives/135188/5 "2002-11-04T08:02:04Z")
There are a lot of reasons to include two drives, but one is, if one dies, you still have all the data that’s on the other one. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hard-drives/135188/6 "2002-11-04T08:04:23Z")
I’m not sure what you mean by “desktop items.” The icons on the desktop are mostly shortcuts to software. I think it’s bad practice to put actual data files on the desktop - it’s very difficult to organize. By the way you may just have one hard drive split into two partitions. Storing all data in one partition and all programs in another is a common practice. For example, it allows you to reformat the C: partition and re-install Windows without affecting the data on the D: partition. ---
**Author:** ![Duderdude2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Duderdude2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duderdude2)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hard-drives/135188/7 "2002-11-04T08:07:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by scr4 \* > \*\*I’m not sure what you mean by “desktop items.” The icons on the desktop are mostly shortcuts to software. I meant, all of the folders I create on the desktop are put on the 15 gig drive. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hard-drives/135188/8 "2002-11-04T08:12:00Z")
> [@](#): > > I meant, all of the folders I create on the desktop are put on the 15 gig drive. OK, in that case make folders on the 60 gig drive. Then make shortcuts to those folders on the desktop. It should behave more or less the same way, and the data will be stored on the 60 gig drive. I personally use Explorer to access files on other drives. My desktop is pretty much empty. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hard-drives/135188/9 "2002-11-04T09:10:49Z")
We’re talking about two _partitions_, not two physical drives, aren’t we? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hard-drives/135188/10 "2002-11-04T10:52:25Z")
It sounds to me that you don’t even know if you have access to the 2nd (partition?) drive. Assuming it’s a PC, you should be able to see it in your list in “My Computer”, probably labelled D: (and your CD Rom drive will be likely E:) From there it’s easy to move and create directories in that drive just like on any other. A second partition or drive is usually best for storing files on, while the first drive is where software and your operating system is kept. Just as a general rule, anyway - it’s not absolutely necessary. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hard-drives/135188/11 "2002-11-04T12:54:38Z")
If they are 2 physical drives you sould have been storing things on the 60 a long time ago - now your screwed, not totally but you will constantly run against the space limitation of the 15. Every installation should have gone on the 60 except core items. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hard-drives/135188/12 "2002-11-04T13:04:56Z")
I think it’s most unlikely that there are two physical hard drives; with the exception of a couple of models, Sony Vaios are very slim and compact laptops; putting two physical hard drives in a laptop makes very little sense. ---
**Author:** ![starfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/87869e/32.png) [@starfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/starfish)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hard-drives/135188/13 "2002-11-04T13:54:28Z")
My Sony Vaio desktop came set up like that. The single hard drive was split into two partitions. Mine had C: for the operating system, etc. All software installed on D: by default. I no longer have the computer so can’t help on your settings. Go to the Vaio help (not Windows help) and search for something like “default drive”. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hard-drives/135188/14 "2002-11-04T14:48:21Z")
If it were one HD that would be 75gigs. Who has seen a 75 gig HD? Not me. What operating system? Get a third party program or computer maintenance program that transfers programs from one partitiion or another or one HD to another. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hard-drives/135188/15 "2002-11-04T16:00:31Z")
> [@](#): > > If it were one HD that would be 75gigs. Who has seen a 75 gig HD? Not me. You’ve seen every hard drive ever made, handy? A simple visit to [pricewatch.com](http://pricewatch.com) will confirm that, although uncommon, they do exist. IBM makes a 7200RPM Deskstar model that’s 75GB. Also, it seems the OP knows very little about computers (drives vs. partitions, how to save to a different drive), so it may be an 80GB drive and he may be confused between the realistic (1024MB = 1GB) way operating systems measure space and the optimistic (1000MB = 1GB) way hard drive manufacturers advertise their drives. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hard-drives/135188/16 "2002-11-04T17:06:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duderdude2 \* > Thanks! Is there a reason why they include 2 drives instead of 1? Also, does one ever run faster than the other? Can both seek data simultaneously? Finally, is there any way so desktop items are saved to the 60gig drive instead of the defaul, 15 gig one? \*\* Personally, I like using two (physical) hard drives because it makes it easy to transfer data when you buy a new computer. Plus, if you have to get your PC serviced, you just take out the data drive so you don’t have to worry about the tech guy stealing your porn…I mean …uh…porn. That, and at 60+ megabytes, the only way I know to back up my hard drive is on another hard drive (or tape drive). ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hard-drives/135188/17 "2002-11-04T22:13:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*I think it’s most unlikely that there are two physical hard drives; with the exception of a couple of models, Sony Vaios are very slim and compact laptops; putting two physical hard drives in a laptop makes very little sense. \*\* I’ll have to concur with **Mangetout**. It’s in all probabilty one physical hard drive with two logical partitions. To confirm this, you could run FDISK in DOS mode and see what it lists as physical hard drives. Alternatively, you could tell us the exact model number of your Sony Vaio and we could determine it for you. If it is one physical hard disk with just a 15GB C:\ partition and a 60GB D:\ partition, you could easily adjust the sizes using Partition Magic from [http://www.powerquest.com/](http://www.powerquest.com/). With Partition Magic you can increase the size of the C:\ drive by just merging the free space from D:\ into C:. And you can do all this without losing any data. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hard-drives/135188/18 "2002-11-04T23:18:32Z")
“And you can do all this without losing any data.” Yep, however they do ask you to back up first 🙂 You can slso get a USB HD. As a matter of fact right this moment some Staples are discounting their 120 gig external USB 2.0 HDs (Don’t have any on their website) for $97.50 on top of that you get a $30 rebate or $67.50… I think Im going to the store today. ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2-hard-drives/135188/19 "2002-11-04T23:19:08Z")
I have a Sony Vaio too, and it sounds like the same - mine is one 80 GB hard drive partitioned to two partitions - C: is 15 GB, and D: is 60 GBs (approx). Windows and pre-installed programs are on the C: partition, D: was totally empty. I use D: for all my storage- big digital pictures, video captures, my music files, and so on. All you have to do to use D: for storing stuff is change the save path when you save. Instead of just taking the default location when you go to save a file, browse to your D: drive and save it there.