2 drives on new ACER desktop

Dear All,
I just bought my first ACER, a desktop. It has a 1TB SSD, but it is "split" into a C: and a

drive. (I guess these are "partitions"?)
As I will be installing software over the next few weeks, I wanted to know if it makes a difference where I install programs. The C: has a folder called "Program files" (and an x86 one), so I guess it's best to put programs on C: ?
Would

be best for storing media, like photos, music, and videos?
A more specific question: I've just installed iTunes, and now I want to transfer my library (mostly my ripped CDs) from my old PC to my new one. iTunes has put a folder onto the C: drive, under music. BUT if I'm planning to store media on

, is that a problem? I'm pretty sure iTunes will let me tell it where to look for it's library, but I'm not sure whether it would be problematic for the media to be on

if the program is on C:
Thanks in advance for any help!

Comments

Scottsen

So it seems I have a emoji drive instead of a D drive... :-)

billsey

Yeah, that's a 'feature' of the forum software. I usually get around it with a space between the D and :, i.e., D :\File.

You don't tell us what computer you bought so it's kind of tough to guess as to how it's setup now. Are the C: and D : partitions both around the same size (475ishGB)? If so you likely have enough room on the C: partition that it won't matter where you install the programs, so just use the default (which will either be 'C:\Program Files' or 'C:\Program Files (x86)'). Normally in this situation you would tell your application (iTunes) to store data on the D : drive instead of the default. You might do the same with Video, Pictures and potentially Documents and Downloads. If you don't want to be tweaking it for each application Windows has a method to move those default folders to another drive.

Scottsen

Thanks Billsey.
Yes, they're both about 475, you're right.

billsey

So it really comes down to what you expect your usage to be. If you are storing a bunch of data, but it's somewhat volatile so doesn't need to be backed up, put the data on D : and back up C:. If the data is more important then either remove the D : partition and expand C: to be the full size or backup both partitions. Most people find that 475GB is plenty for their uses and end up not doing much with the second partition...

Scottsen

I hadn't thought of doing that... If I delete D : do the contents get left on C :, or do I need to move things to C myself first?

Scottsen

Hmmm. I had a go myself. I used "Disk Management", and saw that as well as "Delete", there is also the option to Shrink.
I shrank my D : drive to 100Gb, thinking the space would go to C :. BUT it went to "Unallocated" instead :-(
So, I try to expand the C drive, but Expand is greyed out.
Billsey, would you know how to increase the size of the C-drive using the Unallocated space please?
Sorry to be a pain!

billsey

Yup, in Disk Management the unallocated space needs to be adjacent to the drive you want to expand, and shrinking comes from the end of the partition, so shrinking D : doesn't give you the ability to expand C:. Copy the data off D : to a folder on C:, the fully remove D :. That will give you the unallocated space adjacent to C: and will open up the option to expand.

Scottsen

Hello again. The saga continues! I deleted the D : partition, BUT next to the C: there is a 1GB partition called Healthy (Recovery Partition) - this doesn't show up as a "drive" like C or D. This was present when I go this PC (it's new), so seems it must have been put there by Acer.
When I right click on this partition, I have NO options (extend, delete, etc), just a button saying "Help" (ominous) which leads be to a Bing search on Disk Management...

Scottsen

Hmmm. Having looked into deleting that recovery partition, it seems VERY complicated.
I think I will go back to creating a D : from the unallocated space.

Easwar

Hi Scottsen,

May I know the full model name of your unit.

billsey

Yeah, if the partitions are EFI; System; Recovery; Data; Recovery then we're going to need to move that first recovery up next to the last one in order to expand C:. There are third party tools that allow you to move partitions around though. Look into something like MiniTool Partition Wizard Free.

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