how does multiple HDDs work

[hoofhearted4]

do you need to have a RAID 0 setup if you have two hard drives?

 

if you put your OS on one and everything else on another, how does your PC read the other drive when your booting from the primary drive?

 

is RAID 0 safe? like i know if one drive fails, you loose everything on both.

 

 

i ask because i plan on building my parents a new PC sometime. and i wanna get them a bigger HDD, but they can save money if they keep their old HDD with W7 x64 on it (saving money so they dont need to buy a new OS) so i would keep that drive ad have a second bigger drive too.

 

thanks for your help guys

Edited November 29, 2011 by hoofhearted4

[Vecna6667]

RAID: Redundant Array of Independent(or Inexpensive) Disks. A means to increase storage, provide a small backup, or provide fault tolerence, and in some cases increase Read/Write speeds. There are many different versions, but the three most common ones are:

 

RAID 0(Striping): Data is divided up among the disks. The first packet of information in a file, or program, or application is written to the first disk, the next packet is simultaniously written to the next disk in the array, and the process continues until all the information is written. Read/Write speeds are increased because because the data is written to or accessed from two or more disks. Storage and speed are increase, but if one drive fails, the whole array fails.

 

RAID 1(Mirroring): Data is written to multiple disks, but not divided. A file or application would be written on two hard drives so that if one drive failed, you could still access the file or program because there is an exact duplicate on the other disk. Slower than RAID 0, but not likely to mess up the system. RAID 1 is not a substitute to backing up data.

 

RAID 5(Striping with Parity): Three disks or more. Works like RAID 0 but a parity bit gets added to one random disk(actually, it follow a pattern to a degree). The parity is used in the case that in one disk fails, the data does not get lost and the array can be rebuilt before the next drive fails. Storage: Three 3TB drives = 6TB of storage in a RAID 5. The missing 3TB that can't be access is for the parity bits. The parity bits slow down the write speed, but read speed is almost as fast as RAID 0. This array is mostly for servers.

 

The following link can provide a better discription of RAID arrays and to answer the last question, no, you don't need to set up RAID if you are using multiple disks. You would have a JBOD(Just a Bunch Of Disks).

 

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/how_set_lightning-fast_raid_simple_way

[bben46]

There is no requirement to use raid if you have more than one HD. Typically, you just assign (or allow the computer to auto assign) a letter to the new HD. On most big name computers, the main HD is already C: the DVD drive is already D: A new HD would automatically be assigned the letter E: . Then the new HD is just another drive (NO raid).

 

To install programs to the new drive, most (not all) programs allow you to define a new (non default) path - such as E:\Games\game_name.

 

Most installers default to either C:\Program files\program name or C:\Program files (x86)\program name - this is what you will need to change to the new path.

 

Often, just moving a program to the new drive will not work, as there may be entries in the Windows registry that refer to the original installed location. And moving it does not change those registry entries. :rolleyes:

 

To find the programs, you add the drive letter to the path - this is usually done by editing the shortcut icon on your desktop for that program to show the new path. eg. E:\Games\game_name\start_program_name

[hoofhearted4]

@Venca, thanks, but thats exactly what ive read on every site about RAID.

 

@bben. ok thats what i wanted to hear. i wanted to make sure that RAID wasnt necessary for two HDDs. like i said, i can save my mom money if i use her current HDD with windows on it, and give her a second larger HDD that will last her forever!

[hoofhearted4]

another question.

 

can i like clone the contents of her HDD onto an new HDD. id like to get her a new HDD because her old one is like 200gb IDE and yea. if i could get her a bigger HDD, SATA, 7200RPM, i would.

 

but i dont want to have to rebuy W7 if i can avoid it since Pro is like $140, if i can, i just would want to put everything on he current HDD onto the newer better faster more spacious one.

 

so yea, is it possible, and how would i do it?

[Vecna6667]

another question.

 

can i like clone the contents of her HDD onto an new HDD. id like to get her a new HDD because her old one is like 200gb IDE and yea. if i could get her a bigger HDD, SATA, 7200RPM, i would.

 

but i dont want to have to rebuy W7 if i can avoid it since Pro is like $140, if i can, i just would want to put everything on he current HDD onto the newer better faster more spacious one.

 

so yea, is it possible, and how would i do it?

 

I can think of Norton's Ghost, or Windows Backup. I've never used Ghost but with Windows Backup, I'd create a backup image on to an external Hard Drive and a system repair disk. Then, boot to the Repair Disk with the new Hard Drive, the external Hard Drive being the only drives, besides the CD/DVD. There should be an option to restore Windows from an existing disk image in which you select the image, then the Hard Drive and repair disk goes to work. After that reboot, remove the Repair Disk during reboot so that you don't boot back into the repair disk console. If you don't have an external Hard Drive, create a 40 GB partition on the new Hard Drive to store the disk image.

[Paxan_1]

another question.

 

can i like clone the contents of her HDD onto an new HDD. id like to get her a new HDD because her old one is like 200gb IDE and yea. if i could get her a bigger HDD, SATA, 7200RPM, i would.

 

but i dont want to have to rebuy W7 if i can avoid it since Pro is like $140, if i can, i just would want to put everything on he current HDD onto the newer better faster more spacious one.

 

so yea, is it possible, and how would i do it?

 

Hi,

 

yes, this is possible. There is a free tool HDClone available. I have used it myself some weeks ago to port my old system hdd content to a new ssd drive. The computer booted without any trouble after the copy was made :)

 

Sarah

[hoofhearted4]

great thanks!!! you guys are so much help like always!