question about Local disk D

[sleepinglionheart]

Okay, on my laptop there is a OS (C:) and a Local disk (D:)

i'm not very good with computers, but from what i gather my OS (C:) is where all my program files are stored, windows, downloads etc. My local disk (D:) though, i have no idea, and i'm wondering here if i can store files, programs and games on the local disk (D:) because i am running kinda low on space in the OS (C:) which has 22.7 GB free of 58.5 GB, and i cannot help but notice that the local disk (D:) has a vast wealth of GB, 397 GB to be exact. I'm wanting to install my Dragon Age Origins Ultimate edition on the local disk (D:) because of the space it has, but i don't know if it's safe or not.

 

P.S. My laptop is a Dell Inspiron 1764.

 

And thank you in advance.

Edited October 15, 2011 by sleepinglionheart

[AlexxEG]

Yes you can. I use C ONLY for windows, and have EVERYTHING else on D. ;)

[hoofhearted4]

yep. its actually recommended to put everything else on D and keep it seperate from C. all it is is whats called a partition. is basically separating your HDD into different sections. helps keep everything organized for you (and the PC) and can be a life saving thing if something becomes corrupted.

 

so yes. you can put things on (D:)

[bben46]

You actually only have one hard drive. It has been partitioned into 2 logical drives which the OS sees as if it were actually 2 separate drives. The smaller one is the operating system partition, and was probably intended to be mainly to keep the operating system separated from the data files.

 

Unfortunately, not every program pays attention to what the people who set up the file system on your laptop had in mind. In fact, most programs assume you have only one drive, whether actual or logical and assume it is named C: Then they try to cram every thing into that drive and ignore any other drives you have. It is up to you to tell programs to install to a different location than what the default is.

 

Just moving programs from one partition to another may or may not work as not all of a program is easy to find. Windows has a file called the Registry, Implimented way back on an earlier version of Windows and never really changed much. The purpose of the registry is to keep track of programs and where things are that belong to each program. In order to do this, Windows requires that a program be installed using the windows installer. Not all programs use this properly. (Bethesda) So if a program is installed - which most games need, then later moved, some parts of the registry may never be updated to tell the program where certain parts are now located. - So it will crash when it tries to find them.

 

By installing to the D: drive the first time this problem is avoided. If you have already installed to the C: drive, you may be able to move it, I'm not sure about Dragon Age Origins though. If you do move it and then later have problems, try uninstalling and reinstalling in the new location.

 

Most games and other programs will try to install by default to the 'Program Files' folder - which worked fine in WinXP, but due to changes in Vista and Win7, is not good for games IF you are going to mod them. I recomend creating a seperate Games folder -

in your case on the D: drive - D:\Games\Game_name - where Game_name is a folder just for that particular game - each game gets it's own folder to keep them isolated. :thumbsup:

[hoofhearted4]

You actually only have one hard drive. It has been partitioned into 2 logical drives which the OS sees as if it were actually 2 separate drives. The smaller one is the operating system partition, and was probably intended to be mainly to keep the operating system separated from the data files.

 

Unfortunately, not every program pays attention to what the people who set up the file system on your laptop had in mind. In fact, most programs assume you have only one drive, whether actual or logical and assume it is named C: Then they try to cram every thing into that drive and ignore any other drives you have. It is up to you to tell programs to install to a different location than what the default is.

 

Just moving programs from one partition to another may or may not work as not all of a program is easy to find. Windows has a file called the Registry, Implimented way back on an earlier version of Windows and never really changed much. The purpose of the registry is to keep track of programs and where things are that belong to each program. In order to do this, Windows requires that a program be installed using the windows installer. Not all programs use this properly. (Bethesda) So if a program is installed - which most games need, then later moved, some parts of the registry may never be updated to tell the program where certain parts are now located. - So it will crash when it tries to find them.

 

By installing to the D: drive the first time this problem is avoided. If you have already installed to the C: drive, you may be able to move it, I'm not sure about Dragon Age Origins though. If you do move it and then later have problems, try uninstalling and reinstalling in the new location.

 

Most games and other programs will try to install by default to the 'Program Files' folder - which worked fine in WinXP, but due to changes in Vista and Win7, is not good for games IF you are going to mod them. I recomend creating a seperate Games folder -

in your case on the D: drive - D:\Games\Game_name - where Game_name is a folder just for that particular game - each game gets it's own folder to keep them isolated. :thumbsup:

 

wonderfully explained bben! something im going to have to pay attention to when i build my PC. on my laptop, i didnt learn about this till later, so i decided not to care, but with my PC, i wanna make everything neater, esp cause i plan on modding!

 

thanks for the info!