Greetings, I would like some advice on how to set up my hdds.
I currently have Windows 8 on a 128sansidk ssd. --Also many programs and some user files which i will move once i figure this out.
--200gb Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 -- pretty much empty but some program files. (HD Tune says SPin Retry Count caution, CrystalDiskInfo says current pending sector count & uncorrectable sector count Cautions.
--640GB WD Blue 6400AAKS: no space left. Same caution marks in Crystal as in 200Gb seagate. No errors in quick scan in HDTune. Several errors in full scan.
--1TB WD Black: Mo errors but full
New 2TB external WD ( I assume green)--I am willing to insert it.
So I think that I want to remove the Seagate since it might not be so reliable anymore (lasted 6ish yrs) with another drive to hold all program files.
I also need to figure out where to place all Pictures (300+Gb) and downloaded movies (300+ GB)
Advice on how to manage my space and hdds.
Thanks
HDD configuration advice
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
Re: HDD configuration advice
It's hard to say with the information you've given.
What's filling your drives beyond the 600G you've mentionned?
I assume your 2T is big enough to store everything except perhaps old data and old backups you might want to archive just in case.
Reliability:
I don't know if you have remote backups or anything else on top of these drives. I'll assume not.
Any drive can fail any time. But those with errors are more likely to fail and a lot more likely to have further errors which may cause data loss.
So I'll assume your 640G drive is the most unsafe, not the 6 y.o. one... but then the 6 y.o. is too small to use as a main drive or to store your pictures which I assume are non-replaceable. Note that you can force reallocation of bad sectors with some tools (or simply by overwriting destructively) but that doesn't make the drive healthier: it only helps with health assessment and usability.
So I'd rely on your 1T and your 2T. Everything you care about (not movies and other stuff you can download again anytime) about should be on both of these drives.
If you want better information, use smartmontools and not quirky programs which try to do too much. The manufacturers include their own testing procedure in the firmware: use it! With smartmontools, you could trigger the manufacturer's test and provide us a full dump of SMART info.
Power consumption and noise:
You'd obviously be better off if you used a low-power drive as a main always-on drive.
You should be able to tell if the drive inside your enclosure is a Green by looking at the drive model number. If your enclosure has eSATA, you can use the external drive exactly as you would an internal and get as much info as you want. But even USB should dump the drive model.
Performance:
You've told us nothing that justifies caring about performance. Slow drives are fine for pics and movies.
So based on the limited information I have...
Mount the 2T internally and use all other drives as backup drives.
Non-replaceable stuff is to be backed up to the 1T. You should also put an image of your SSD on it if you've got enough room (else put in on some other drive).
Important stuff that doesn't take too much room like the documents, correspondance, any tax/school/employment/business stuff, and the pics you care most about all go on the 200G as well as the 1T (so you have three copies).
You may use the 640G to backup movies you can replace and suchlike. If it fails or some files are damaged, that's no big deal.
You may want to catalog your drives so you know which files you've lost in case a drive fails.
What's filling your drives beyond the 600G you've mentionned?
I assume your 2T is big enough to store everything except perhaps old data and old backups you might want to archive just in case.
Reliability:
I don't know if you have remote backups or anything else on top of these drives. I'll assume not.
Any drive can fail any time. But those with errors are more likely to fail and a lot more likely to have further errors which may cause data loss.
So I'll assume your 640G drive is the most unsafe, not the 6 y.o. one... but then the 6 y.o. is too small to use as a main drive or to store your pictures which I assume are non-replaceable. Note that you can force reallocation of bad sectors with some tools (or simply by overwriting destructively) but that doesn't make the drive healthier: it only helps with health assessment and usability.
So I'd rely on your 1T and your 2T. Everything you care about (not movies and other stuff you can download again anytime) about should be on both of these drives.
If you want better information, use smartmontools and not quirky programs which try to do too much. The manufacturers include their own testing procedure in the firmware: use it! With smartmontools, you could trigger the manufacturer's test and provide us a full dump of SMART info.
Power consumption and noise:
You'd obviously be better off if you used a low-power drive as a main always-on drive.
You should be able to tell if the drive inside your enclosure is a Green by looking at the drive model number. If your enclosure has eSATA, you can use the external drive exactly as you would an internal and get as much info as you want. But even USB should dump the drive model.
Performance:
You've told us nothing that justifies caring about performance. Slow drives are fine for pics and movies.
So based on the limited information I have...
Mount the 2T internally and use all other drives as backup drives.
Non-replaceable stuff is to be backed up to the 1T. You should also put an image of your SSD on it if you've got enough room (else put in on some other drive).
Important stuff that doesn't take too much room like the documents, correspondance, any tax/school/employment/business stuff, and the pics you care most about all go on the 200G as well as the 1T (so you have three copies).
You may use the 640G to backup movies you can replace and suchlike. If it fails or some files are damaged, that's no big deal.
You may want to catalog your drives so you know which files you've lost in case a drive fails.
Re: HDD configuration advice
Thank you
I also have an external 3TB that has a copy of pretty much everything. I only connect in when i do the backup (not scheduled) --about every few weeks.
I don't know what the rest of the stuff really is. Some of it is VMs that I created for some testing. I intend to run an OSX VM for video editing. Some of it is also poorly organized partial backups. I copy over sections of disks when i need to do something.
I also have Win 7 installed on the 640-- this was my primary drive before it started glitching. I find it useful to be able to restart and use a different OS if I need to for some reason.
On the 1 is also a complete copy of my dad's hdd. Just in case he needs some files at some point.
I don't care about power consumption nor too much about noise ( I know ... why am i even here) I want it to be not noisy and perform well enough. I will be doing video editing once this is organized but I expect the 1tb black drive to be good for that.
The 2tb is a WD20EARX. At one point I considered using it as another external but I will likely make it the big storage drive for media like you advised.
I have also been reading up on SSD & HDD options. Would it be possible to create junction points in my situation? Or would it be better to manually move the program files and reinstall if necessary onto the 1TB.
Sorry about the disorganized answers. I obviously don't have the same thinking pattern as you and capability to organize my thoughts.
I also have an external 3TB that has a copy of pretty much everything. I only connect in when i do the backup (not scheduled) --about every few weeks.
I don't know what the rest of the stuff really is. Some of it is VMs that I created for some testing. I intend to run an OSX VM for video editing. Some of it is also poorly organized partial backups. I copy over sections of disks when i need to do something.
I also have Win 7 installed on the 640-- this was my primary drive before it started glitching. I find it useful to be able to restart and use a different OS if I need to for some reason.
On the 1 is also a complete copy of my dad's hdd. Just in case he needs some files at some point.
I don't care about power consumption nor too much about noise ( I know ... why am i even here) I want it to be not noisy and perform well enough. I will be doing video editing once this is organized but I expect the 1tb black drive to be good for that.
The 2tb is a WD20EARX. At one point I considered using it as another external but I will likely make it the big storage drive for media like you advised.
I have also been reading up on SSD & HDD options. Would it be possible to create junction points in my situation? Or would it be better to manually move the program files and reinstall if necessary onto the 1TB.
Sorry about the disorganized answers. I obviously don't have the same thinking pattern as you and capability to organize my thoughts.