3 questions about 2TB Hard DIsk and Windows 7 Home Premium?

abr

abr

Novice
Hi,
I set up a new machine (thanks to ALPHA17 and Hades) and I have a 2TB Sata Western Digital Hard Disk that I want to install Windows 7 Home premium on.

Questions are:
  • How should I format the hard disk? FAT 32 etc?
  • Do I need to partition the 2TB for it to run well?
  • What is the best way to do it?

Looking forward to your suggestions.
 
1. Right click the drive in Windows Explorer, select Format to format it (NTFS is newer to FAT32 and is the default file system)
2. No. However, it is preferable to separate the OS files from your data files by partitioning the disk into two volumes
3. Type Diskmgmt.msc in the search box to start Disk Management Console. Right click the hdd and select shrink volume. Follow the prompts.

Hope it helps...
 
1. NTFS (FAT32 is outdated, several restrictions)
2 and 3. I'm assuming that the 2TB is a WD Green drive? If so, know that it is markedly slower than high-performance hard drives like WD Black. It is better to use Green drives as separate data dump drives rather than putting an OS on them as well. Also keep in mind that Green drives aren't built for 24x7 availability. But if that is not an option, or it is a 2TB Black, then what Palpy said.
 
Palpy said:
1. Right click the drive in Windows Explorer, select Format to format it (NTFS is newer to FAT32 and is the default file system)
2. No. However, it is preferable to separate the OS files from your data files by partitioning the disk into two volumes
3. Type Diskmgmt.msc in the search box to start Disk Management Console. Right click the hdd and select shrink volume. Follow the prompts.

Hope it helps...
Click to expand...
Palpy - this is to be done AFTER installing windows right?

GunsNRoses said:
1. NTFS (FAT32 is outdated, several restrictions)
2 and 3. I'm assuming that the 2TB is a WD Green drive? If so, know that it is markedly slower than high-performance hard drives like WD Black. It is better to use Green drives as separate data dump drives rather than putting an OS on them as well. Also keep in mind that Green drives aren't built for 24x7 availability. But if that is not an option, or it is a 2TB Black, then what Palpy said.
Click to expand...
GunsNRoses - The drive has WD20EARX. A quick google search tells me that its a Green drive. Rajendra at Golcha told me that its a 7200rpm drive. I paid 7000/- for it a few days ago. Is this correct?
 
Nah, it's 5400rpm. All Green drives spin slower than Blacks. The price you paid for it seems about par with the rates, so it wasn't a rip off, the seller must have been misinformed. It's a good drive for storing data. But it is slower than Black, and spins down/parks head after a bit of inactivity. If you can, a different drive for the OS will be better (like a WD Black).

In regards to the formatting issue, diskmgmt.msc can only run after install. But no need to worry, the windows install disk contains formatting tools, so you can use that to partition and such.
 
Oh shucks. Does that mean that if I want to leave it running over night downloading stuff, its going to be a problem? With this head-parking and all jazz?
 
Downloading shouldn't be a problem, it'll keep the HDD busy all the time. However, the drive isn't suitable for 24x7 use, so I would be wary of doing that. It might fail after warranty period. I currently use a Black drive to download to, and a green drive to move data to when space runs out.
But if you're not into 24x7 use, and can make do with decent performance, then the Green drive will do that adequately. You can always save up and buy a Black, or even an SSD, later on.
 
I think I will do this then:
  1. Format the Green drive to NTFS like GunsNRoses said.
  2. Install Windows and partition like what Palpy said.

Get a SSD once the price drops and then move the windows and programs installation onto that.

Sounds ok for now? If yes, then I can start the installation procedure.
 
Ok. Done!
What the configuration is:
~250GB partition running Windows
~ 500 GB partition
~ 1TB Partition

All of them are NTFS.

A 2TB hard disk is never 2TB so the mismatch.
 
i would like to know the reason behind WD green drives failing in a 24x7 setup,for all i know it's tendency to spin down when not in use SHOULD in theory lead to a better life span than the WD black ones.(Also,i have had the opportunity to work with both of these drives and for normal usage and gaming,the difference in speed to me has been Nil.)so i really dnt knw how one gets to that conclusion.
Also OP will you be formatting/partioning in the windows setup OR in the windows environment?If through the setup then know that the windows setup comes with a fairly easy to use GUI to format and partition your HDD,and it formats your drive in the NTFS format so dnt worry about that.Also you will be able to select in which partition windows installs if you were wondering about that.

If you are already in the windows environment then you will find a good tool to do all this shebang(also very easy to use and self explanatory) here : Open Start>Type Run and open>Type Compmgmt.msc and open>In the left hand side window under storage click disc management>There you go,easily create new partition or extend or shrink existing ones.

The size or pattern of creating partitions doesn't affect HDD performance.Create partitions according to your needs or preferences like,maybe 100GB or 200GB partition for Windows,and 500 GB for music/Movies or for games etc.
Hope this helps
 
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