The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Just bought an SSD

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by Proz, May 31, 2011.

  1. Proz

    Proz Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    36
    Messages:
    195
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Hi
    Ive just bought a bargain Intel SSDSA2CW120G3K5 320 Series 120gb .
    My current set up s 2x500gb in Raid 1 mirroring just cause thats the way it came from Dell .
    Anyway once my new ssd comes ill be formatting etc so.....
    How do i set up C drive to be the ssd and use one of my 500gb drives as storage .
    What do i do in the bios raid wise ?
    Do i turn it off ?
    I would like to have C as ssd for windows and some stuff i use a lot and have the 500gb as D drive for storage , games etc ? I hope this makes sense :confused:
    I have the latest Intel Rapid Storage from Dell installed , will that cause problems .
    Sory for all the questions but just want to get it right first time to get the full benefit of the ssd :D

    Thanks
     
  2. Mechanized Menace

    Mechanized Menace Lost in the MYST

    Reputations:
    1,370
    Messages:
    3,110
    Likes Received:
    63
    Trophy Points:
    116
    In the bios switch it to AHCI and when you install windows just reformat the 500gb drive and install windows to the SSD

    You will need to still install games and programs on the ssd, but everthing else goes on the HDD

    IRS will have no effect
     
  3. Proz

    Proz Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    36
    Messages:
    195
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Ok , sounds straight forward enough .
    Thanks
     
  4. Proz

    Proz Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    36
    Messages:
    195
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Im using about 200gb of the 500gb drive so obviously i wont get all my games on the 120gb ssd so is it simply a case of when installing games or apps that im not too fussy about speed on "D" .... ie when installing and it normally shows the "C" directory do i just change it to "D" and let it do its thing ?
    I dont really need 500gb just for pictures etc .
    Im kind of getting a bit lost here after looking on google and seeing a lot of people saying its not just as easy as installing stuff to "D" rather than "C"
     
  5. shadowyani

    shadowyani Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    214
    Messages:
    791
    Likes Received:
    137
    Trophy Points:
    56
    You might want to look into learning how to use sym-links.

    It would be quite nice to have your OS boot from your SSD, but actually have all your programs, games, and documents on the HDD. Use a sym-link to "trick" your computer into loading only the games you need from the SSD. That way you won't have to juggle game installations around.
     
  6. Mechanized Menace

    Mechanized Menace Lost in the MYST

    Reputations:
    1,370
    Messages:
    3,110
    Likes Received:
    63
    Trophy Points:
    116
    I am using my 256GB drive and I install my most played games and install/uninstall other games that I want to play, but are not the main all the time games I play. You can either pick and choose like I do( I have almost 50 games) or you can try the Sym-Link like Shadowyani suggested.

    here is some info on that:
    Complete Guide to Symbolic Links (symlinks) on Windows or Linux - How-To Geek
     
  7. Proz

    Proz Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    36
    Messages:
    195
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Thanks for the links ... looks like i'll try and go down that route :)
     
  8. juliant

    juliant Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    1,015
    Messages:
    1,409
    Likes Received:
    27
    Trophy Points:
    66