How do I set my second hard drive as a "data drive"?

[lsquare]

I'm planning to go with a SSD and HDD as my storage solution. The HDD will be used strictly for storing files while the OS and applications will be installed on a Intel 80GB SSD. I have some questions about setting up my Hitachi 2TB SATA hard drive as a so called data drive.

I'll describe my previous experience here and explain why I'm still a bit confused on this matter. Hopefully someone can clarify things for me.

I remember plugging in a hard drive to a computer years back. As soon as I turn on the computer, I go into disk management to initiate and format the hard drive. I'm given the option of either "MBR or GPT". I picked MBR for compatibility reasons, but for the future, I intend to use GPT. Next, nothing appears. So I right clicked on the drive in disk management and select "New Simple Volume". Then set the volume size, assign it a drive letter, format the drive with NTFS, "default" for allocation unit size" and using "new volume" for volume label. Next I did a "quick format" and that was it.

However, when the computer was upgraded to Windows 7 Professional, the data drive wasn't detected. I had to go into disk management and found out that because I didn't give it a volume name, the OS didn't detect it. Windows 7 also forced me to reassign a drive letter to the drive.

So it all boils down to this. How should I setup and format my new 2TB hard drive? I want to be able to unplug the drive from my main computer and put it elsewhere if it's needed. Do you guys usually assign a drive letter and volume name to your "data drive"? Did I setup the drive correctly base on the method that I described earlier? How do you guys setup your drives?

[gingerbee]

yes you have to assign a drive letter for the os to see it no matter what. if there formatted. ie not raw then it should be seen automatically.
1. plug the drive in
2 assign a drive letter/ format drive
3 see hdd by the os start using it done

[MrDiaz]

All you have to do is assign a new drive letter under Disk Management on Windows 7 if you find that when you plug the drive it doesn't show up in the explorer. The quick format is how you should do it, I've never done a full format unless it's an old drive and want to clear the sectors.

[lsquare]

Originally Posted by gingerbee

yes you have to assign a drive letter for the os to see it no matter what. if there formatted. ie not raw then it should be seen automatically.
1. plug the drive in
2 assign a drive letter/ format drive
3 see hdd by the os start using it done

So I did an experiment earlier and I don't understand why Windows 7 Professional is doing this. When the computer boots to the desktop for the first time, I can't see the so called "data drive". I have to go to disk management, add a drive letter, and then it'll appear. However, if I reformat the computer, the same thing would happen and I would have to assign the drive letter to the drive again. It's very annoying! The files that I put on the drive is still there though!

[gingerbee]

ya you should not have to assign a drive letter every time. once you set a drive letter it should stay even after a reboot. but formatting and reinstalling windows 7 i would advise only having the ssd in the system when you install your os's as 7 likes to claim ownership any hardware that is there when formatted.

[lsquare]

Originally Posted by gingerbee

ya you should not have to assign a drive letter every time. once you set a drive letter it should stay even after a reboot. but formatting and reinstalling windows 7 i would advise only having the ssd in the system when you install your os's as 7 likes to claim ownership any hardware that is there when formatted.

Sorry, but I don't understand what you're saying.

[MrDiaz]

The way they built Win7, when you use a drive the OS takes "ownership" of the drive. So when you reinstall the O.S, the drive would appear as if it's own by the previous system you had installed on your PC, hence it does not assign a letter to it, and even sometimes it does but you can't access it because it tells you, you dont have the proper permissions to read the contents. Makes sense?

[gingerbee]

thank i have not had a coffee/pop yet that's what i mean

[MrDiaz]

I hear ya, it's 10:00 am here already and it feels like it's 4 am. Still sleeping pretty much :(

[lsquare]

I'm still a little confused on this matter. Can someone just outline the steps (in detail) that they would take to setup a secondary drive strictly as storage?