SSD + HDD

[[Chris]]

Hey, i have a SSD as a bootdrive and a 1tb HDD as my storage drive. most of my stuff is on the HDD (Such as Steam games, Videos etc)

Now, could i format the SSD and still be able to use the HDD as is, in its current state with all the programs/games working?

[RyRy]

Eeer... Yeah? Unless you've got some sort of RAID setup on them, I don't see why not.

I'd do some research on formatting SSD's though, just because they're not really the same as HDD and I'm sure you can do damage to them by formatting them. Not 100% sure, but it's worth a check.

[Stephen!]

Probably not because all of the registry files for the programs will be wiped with the SSD.

[[Chris]]

I'll look into it. Just my problem is the SSD is only 40GB and its just filling up with crap and i dont know where from.

[RyRy]

Probably not because all of the registry files for the programs will be wiped with the SSD.

Oooo **** he's got a point there. :P Well he could just backup the registry and restore it once he's wiped it?

[[Chris]]

Ah, how did i forget that. So it would be best just to delete EVERYTHING, on both disks and then start fresh.

[RyRy]

Erm not really. Backup your registry, go through your user-defined folders and make sure there's no hidden folders which have files you might need. Then move the backup to your HDD, wipe your SSD with one of the tools you can get, bootable USB or disc would be best to wipe it with, and go from there.

[N!ck]

I'd do a secure erase (TRIMs the whole drive) on the SSD with gparted, aLinux live CD and then when you've reinstalled Windows disable hibernation (will free up about 5GB on the SSD) and if you have lots of RAM (8 GB+) than disable the pagefile which will free up several more GB.

You can set your Steam folder to the relevant folder on the HDD and it will be able to use the games again (I've done it before). Just make sure you back up your game saves before wiping the SSD. Videos will be fine.

[[Chris]]

So backing up the Registry then secure erasing the SSD with Gparted is enough, then i just reinstall windows?

[RyRy]

;7237129']So backing up the Registry then secure erasing the SSD with Gparted is enough, then i just reinstall windows?

If you do restore the registry, remember to keep a backup of after you've reinstalled the OS as well, just so you have a clean version which is new and your version from before. Gives you that reassurance if anything goes wrong.

[triston220]

I'd do a secure erase (TRIMs the whole drive) on the SSD with gparted, aLinux live CD and then when you've reinstalled Windows disable hibernation (will free up about 5GB on the SSD) and if you have lots of RAM (8 GB+) than disable the pagefile which will free up several more GB.

You can set your Steam folder to the relevant folder on the HDD and it will be able to use the games again (I've done it before). Just make sure you back up your game saves before wiping the SSD. Videos will be fine.

A secure wipe is not needed and will waste some of the drives write cycles.

[N!ck]

A secure wipe is not needed and will waste some of the drives write cycles.

Why not get the drive nice and freshly TRIM'd? The performance benefit is going to be worth the one cycle over each block considering the number they have in them before wearing out.

[triston220]

Why not get the drive nice and freshly TRIM'd? The performance benefit is going to be worth the one cycle over each block considering the number they have in them before wearing out.

Erasing the free space is fine but by does it need to be done securely? One pass should be enough.

[Stephen!]

A secure wipe puts it back 100% to factory default. All the cells are completely empty and performance will be 100% restored. A normal format will not do this.

[N!ck]

Erasing the free space is fine but by does it need to be done securely? One pass should be enough.

See what Stephen said. The secure erase does does not do multiple passes with random data or anything like that.

[triston220]

Right, okay. I thought you meant formatting with several passes.