Installing Programs on Second HDD

I will buy a new laptop with an SSD and an HDD.

On my HDD, I was wondering if I could install programs in specific folders instead of program files. (I know I can, just wondering if I will face issues)

For example:

On my second HDD,
D:/
---Audio
------Ableton Live
------Sound Forge
---Utilities
------Perfect Disk
------HWMonitor
---Games
------Heroes of Newerth
------Diablo 3

Is it better to have everything in Program Files?

 

You can install programs anywhere you want. I can see you are going to have a Sager NP9150 like mine. If you installed your OS on SSD and programs on HDD, you will just notice slower Programs lauches from HDD

 

Yup, you can install anywhere you want.

However, i'd create a Program Files and Program files (x86) folder on D:\ just for the sake of convenience. When you need to change the install path, just replace C by D and you can continue with the clickfest on the next button. This is by no means necessary, just makes installing programs on D:\ easier and faster.

 

I will install my most used programs on my SSD but I don't want to fill it with less used software.

I was thinking of dividing it this way to keep the second drive cleaner.

 

Nope, it won't cause issues. If a program gives you a choice of where to install it, it's safe to assume that it'll pretty much anywhere, except perhaps a thumb drive that you remove from the system later, or someplace like C:\Windows\System32.

Experience: Currently have nearly everything that isn't tiny on D:\, and my family had the same setup going on Windows 95 and 98 without problems there, either.

If you'll be running Win7/Vista with UAC on, installing somewhere other than C:\Program Files also is nice if you plan to do any modding, as UAC and VirtualStore won't interfere with your modded game files. Source: personal experience and observation of Microsoft employees' relatives' exasperation with modding things installed under C:\Program Files.