Z13 SSD/HDD Combination

Is it possible to have the 128GB SSD solely run Windows and all of my applications? Then use the optical drive to install any additional apps on the SSD and replace it with an HDD caddy with all of my files thereafter? Would this combination be feasible and how would it work?

I'm assuming that it would be useful, should anything go wrong with the SSD or the notebook in general. I would then be able to quickly remove the HDD with all of my files on it. In the long-run, you can always reinstall Windows or any of the applications, but the files themselves are irreplaceable.

Any advice or suggestions?

Thanks.

 

Totally dude. Totally feasible.

I'm trying to go a step further by cloning my SSD on to my HD so that if my SSD goes kaput, I can boot from the HD instead. My complication is that I TC everything. I tried cloning everything over but the boot sector needs to be written with the TC boot loader on the HD. Turns out TC is not designed for cloning the system drive to another drive on the same system and having it boot. I'll have to decrypt everything, clone it, make it boot and then recrypt both drives. I haven't bothered yet.

 

Duplicate. Delete me pls.

 

That's good to know. If I did use the built-in SSD for Windows 7 and my applications, and the HD caddy for my files, what would be the switching mechanism or how would it integrate? Would I have to manually switch between both drives, or would it manage on its own? I'm asking this, because I would like to access my applications and files as if I was using a single drive...

P.S. If anything happens with the computer, I would just eject the HDD with all my files in it. The OS and apps can always be reinstalled.

 

No switching mechanism required. Just move your user directory to the HD. There are a variety of ways to do it. Some during installation others post. The simplest is just to use links. Just make your user directory on drive c: point to your real user directory on drive d: or whatever.

Here's a little guide that describes the process. It's really quite simple once you understand what's going on.

Move the Users Directory in Windows 7

I don't move my entire user directory. I use my HD for slow storage. So I put the stuff I rarely use, like all the pictures I've ever taken, onto the HD and then link to it from my user directory on C. Thus it appears to logically still be in my user directory even though it's on another drive.

Eventually my goal is to write a caching program that will note what gets used and what doesn't and automagically moves things from fast to slow storage and back again.