ProZ.com Translation Forums

dual hard drive setup | Love the new system

Shawn Champion — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:45:00 +0000

Forum: Hardware
Topic: dual hard drive setup
Poster: Shawn Champion
Post title: Love the new system

What I got:

8 GB RAM
Intel i-5 2500 3.3 GHz
Windows 7 home premium 64 bit
OCZ 120 GB SSD C DRIVE
1 TB 7200 RPM D drive

I have the TMs and termbases on the C with Windows and Trados (and backed up on D). I think I'll make D the primary disc for the Trados files, though. Right now the D drive is literally stopped and not even accessed for most of the day. May as well use it.

Data migration was a nightmare and Trados basically became unusable for awhile. Still has weird problems that SDL could only come up with workarounds for, no solutions. Other than that, the computer itself just flies like greased lightning. Have to switch out the noisy rear fan, but it's great other than that.

Thanks for all the tips!

dual hard drive setup | HDD crash

Ozgur Demirel — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 22:36:00 +0000

Forum: Hardware
Topic: dual hard drive setup
Poster: Ozgur Demirel
Post title: HDD crash

[quote]Shawn Champion wrote:

Thanks for all the advice. I found a pretty good deal on a desktop with two SSD drives and tons of RAM and everything for half what it would cost from Dell or HP or the like. It's from a reputable computer shop here in Sweden.

SSD drives and 64 bit Windows 7 seems to be the way to go. I know that a new Windows is coming soon, but people do seem really happy with 7. Remember Vista? Me neither.

I've never had an HD completely crash on me before, so I'm not as diligent with backing up my data as I should be. However, everything backed up on an external drive and online after every 15,000 words or so seems reasonable. Although, I do back my work up in the middle of really big projects. I couldn't stand to begin fresh after 10,000 words or so. [/quote]

It happened to me twice on WD drives -believe me, it happens. |:

No problem since you say you already have backups on an external though.

dual hard drive setup | Thanks

Shawn Champion — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 15:39:00 +0000

Forum: Hardware
Topic: dual hard drive setup
Poster: Shawn Champion
Post title: Thanks

Thanks for all the advice. I found a pretty good deal on a desktop with two SSD drives and tons of RAM and everything for half what it would cost from Dell or HP or the like. It's from a reputable computer shop here in Sweden.

SSD drives and 64 bit Windows 7 seems to be the way to go. I know that a new Windows is coming soon, but people do seem really happy with 7. Remember Vista? Me neither.

I've never had an HD completely crash on me before, so I'm not as diligent with backing up my data as I should be. However, everything backed up on an external drive and online after every 15,000 words or so seems reasonable. Although, I do back my work up in the middle of really big projects. I couldn't stand to begin fresh after 10,000 words or so.

dual hard drive setup | A couple of opinions

Ozgur Demirel — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 15:15:00 +0000

Forum: Hardware
Topic: dual hard drive setup
Poster: Ozgur Demirel
Post title: A couple of opinions

1 - A good PC user always has his/her important documents regularly backed up at another partition which is physically on another hard drive. You may have 2 partitions (C and D) on the same HDD for example and imagine that HDD malfunctioning due to a power shortage. Gone forever.

2- Using Windows 7 x64 for quite some time now and I wonder what was the last Microsoft OS I enjoyed as much as this one. Not once have I come across with programs or drivers refusing to run. After all, if you have Windows 7 Professional or up, you got Compatibility feature that lets your OS mimic previous Windows versions in case of incompatibilities.

3- SSDs are the way to go for a robust and swift C: partition.

Hope that helps a bit.

dual hard drive setup | What I can tell you from my own experience

Raúl Casanova — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:50:00 +0000

Forum: Hardware
Topic: dual hard drive setup
Poster: Raúl Casanova
Post title: What I can tell you from my own experience

I am using such a setup for my desktop since more than three years ago. My C drive is a Western Digital Raptor 150 Gb 10.000 rpm unit and my F drive is a 1 Tb 7200 rpm unit. "C" drive holds my OS (Windows XP SP3) and all program files, while all my "data" is stored at drive "F" (My documents folder, Outlook.pst and the like, and my music and pictures)
Even with a variety of installed CAT tools, usage of "C" drive is quite modest, less than 40 Gb, which leaves ample room for new applications. Of course, a different OS like Windows 7 might call for a larger share.
The result is rewarding in terms of both performance and safety. Boot-up takes less than 40 seconds, and all app open in a split second. Of course, I contribute to solid performance by means of a regular maintenance routine.
My data is stored in a separate physical HDD, which means I can even take if from my PC and install it in a diffferent machine. In fact, it survives silently on its own place, and allows me to take such steps as reformatting the C drive and performing a "fresh" Windows installation every year or so.
Noise used to be an issue with early WD Raptor drives, but seems to be much attenuated in newer models, and of course, should be totally absent with a SSD.
While I am concius my machine is not "last model", it still has plenty of life, and performs well above standard commercial configurations. And considering current costs of HDDs, it is really a good return for my money.
This is what I wanted to share with you.
Raúl

dual hard drive setup | You may as well stick to Windows 95

Jerzy Czopik — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 06:17:00 +0000

Forum: Hardware
Topic: dual hard drive setup
Poster: Jerzy Czopik
Post title: You may as well stick to Windows 95

[quote]milinad wrote:

I suggest do not load 64 bit windows 7 You might not get many applications to go with it. You might have getting drivers for you existing peripehrals like webcam etc. I had the same problem and had to revert to Windows XP [/quote]

Sorry, but this is simply not true - most (in my case all) applications I need run under 64 bit Win 7.
Vista may have caused problems, but Win 7 is not a problem. And if there should be any problem, you can run Virtual Box or Microsoft Virtual PC.

dual hard drive setup | 64 bit windows

milinad — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 06:14:00 +0000

Forum: Hardware
Topic: dual hard drive setup
Poster: milinad
Post title: 64 bit windows

I suggest do not load 64 bit windows 7 You might not get many applications to go with it. You might have getting drivers for you existing peripehrals like webcam etc. I had the same problem and had to revert to Windows XP

dual hard drive setup | Hard drives

kalap (X) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 01:56:00 +0000

Forum: Hardware
Topic: dual hard drive setup
Poster: kalap (X)
Post title: Hard drives

I have a laptop with two 250 GB drives, the programs are on the C: drive and the data on the D:drive. And an external Iomega 100 GB drive I used for backups. I just had to copy the contents of D: onto F: once a week. So fine. The problem is now that I am travelling a lot by train and that this laptop weighs 3,5 kgs. Some months ago, I changed my procedures. Am now working on the Iomega hard drive, always, and use the D: drive as backup, so that I can take the Iomega with me. (The PCs in my other homes are fully equipped). I did not notice any change in speed, but I do not own Trados, only lighter and online CATs. My conclusion is that an external drive is really a good investment, better than a d: drive.

dual hard drive setup | Backing SSD

FarkasAndras — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 19:37:00 +0000

Forum: Hardware
Topic: dual hard drive setup
Poster: FarkasAndras
Post title: Backing SSD

There is no point in buying "fast" HDDs. Even the fastest HDDs are agonizingly slow compared to the slowest current-gen SSDs. So, as suggested, get a fast SSD for the OS and programs, and a large HDD (internal, USB or NAS) for data if you need it. The SSD can be a 64 GB, that's more than enough for Win7+Trados+other sw+translation files. 120GB or even 240GB is of course better, but the prices add up quickly...
An example of a good SSD would be an Intel or a SandForce based drive from OCZ, Kingston or Corsair.
I went SSD about a year ago, and I'm never going back.

dual hard drive setup | SSD+NAS would suffice

Jerzy Czopik — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 18:44:00 +0000

Forum: Hardware
Topic: dual hard drive setup
Poster: Jerzy Czopik
Post title: SSD+NAS would suffice

I have a HDD and NAS for my desktop, however are using a laptop with SSD and an eSata HDD attached to it (it "plays" the role of NAS) when I am on the road.
The SSD powered laptop is much faster than my Core Quad desktop.

My setup includes (both desktop and laptop) Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit, MS Office with Outlook running in the background all the time, Skype and SDL Trados Studio (very resource hungry).
All the programs are either on internal HDD or SSD, so is the swap file from Windows.
I have also all TMs and termbases on internal HDD or SSD, when ALL working files are on eSata respective NAS. This includes also project TMs. This setup is fast enough and gives me enormous potential of expansion. Replacing the NAS (eSata) with working files is just the question of copying :)
For backup there is an extra eSata connected to NAS and formatted with NFS. The eSata housing also supports USB, so I can simply connect it anywhere.

dual hard drive setup | something like that

Szabolcs Király — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 17:43:00 +0000

Forum: Hardware
Topic: dual hard drive setup
Poster: Szabolcs Király
Post title: something like that

[quote] aren't they limited in how many times a sector (or whatever they're called) can be written? [/quote]

In theory, yes. However, if you start to count it turns out that this limit is reached in some 10 years with average daily use. (That is if you don't run any extreme eg. a file server on them.) Do you use the same storage media as you've done 10 years ago?
I've been using two low-cost SSDs in both of my PCs for the last two and a half years. No problem with that; Windows boots completely in 30 seconds.

[quote] The real goal here is to be able to search my translations, termbases, and concordance without the hard drive freaking out about where to look. All while running tons of other stuff. [/quote]
So place all work stuff on a separate HDD. Any consumer 7200 rpm HDD with a SATA interface should be just fine. The net is full of HDD comparisons to help you orientate in speed and noise figures. Regular defragmention will keep it fast enough and you can also try to rebuild the TM's index.

[quote] Ideally I wouldn't partition any of the drives, that kind of defeats the purpose of having multiple drives, right? [/quote]
Yes, partitioning is just a logical separation so the system will use the same device and channel when reaching the data on the drive. So it won't be any faster at all just by the partitioning itself.

dual hard drive setup | Hmm....

Shawn Champion — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 15:29:00 +0000

Forum: Hardware
Topic: dual hard drive setup
Poster: Shawn Champion
Post title: Hmm....

I hadn't considered the noise factor of the disk. I do like the idea of an SSD+HDD+NAS. Such a setup would be more expensive, but I like the idea of the SSD. The NAS seems pretty cool, never had one before.

I know very little about SSDs, but aren't they limited in how many times a sector (or whatever they're called) can be written? Ideally I wouldn't partition any of the drives, that kind of defeats the purpose of having multiple drives, right?

How about:
-SSD as C drive with Trados, Windows, etc
-7000 RPM 64 MB HDD for TMs, termbases, work files, etc
-NAS as system backup and storage for all multimedia.

The real goal here is to be able to search my translations, termbases, and concordance without the hard drive freaking out about where to look. All while running tons of other stuff.

dual hard drive setup | I would not invest in a 15000 rpm drive now

Jerzy Czopik — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 12:45:00 +0000

Forum: Hardware
Topic: dual hard drive setup
Poster: Jerzy Czopik
Post title: I would not invest in a 15000 rpm drive now

but buy some SSD instead.
A good setup could be 256 GB SSD and additionaly as many GB as necessary on a NAS drive.
You can keep OS and programs on one partition of the SSD, your termbases, TMs and so on on the second parition and all work files (and music for example, if you like to) on the NAS.

dual hard drive setup | 64GB not the actual hard drive size...

Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 12:26:00 +0000

Forum: Hardware
Topic: dual hard drive setup
Poster: Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL
Post title: 64GB not the actual hard drive size...

in fact, she never mentioned a 64GB hard drive... she mentioned a hard drive with 65MB [b]cache[/b] size and a system with 8/16GB of RAM...

[quote]efreitag wrote:

[quote]Szabolcs Király wrote:

If you have the money for it, it might be worthwile to get an SSD as the drive C (about 64GB?[/quote]

An SSD drive generally speaking seems to be a good idea, but I'd strongly advise against 64GB: This just isn't enough. Windows 7 will occupy a lot of it, and remember: There is no possibility to install Trados Studio 2009 anywhere else than on the system drive (C:, that is)! A very peculiar decision which I hope will be changed in future versions.
[/quote]

anyway, a 7300 rpm 500GB SATA hard drive (like a Seagate Barracuda) is only £31 at the moment here in England... so, a fairly cheap option for a second drive...

[Edited at 2011-08-25 12:34 GMT]

dual hard drive setup | Keep your OS separate from data

Siobhán Fulton — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 11:41:00 +0000

Forum: Hardware
Topic: dual hard drive setup
Poster: Siobhán Fulton
Post title: Keep your OS separate from data

As mentioned above, it's important to keep your data files on a separate drive or partition from where your operating system is. A virus usually can't jump across hard drives, so if you get an infection and have to wipe your operating system partition/drive, your data will be safe from mischief.

dual hard drive setup | enough - not enough

Szabolcs Király — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 11:38:00 +0000

Forum: Hardware
Topic: dual hard drive setup
Poster: Szabolcs Király
Post title: enough - not enough

Of course, you have to plan the space needed (eg. Windows 7 needs around 10 GB). In my case I can make do with 40 GB - but it's a question of what you need to install; Shawn will know it exactly.

dual hard drive setup | SSD drives

Erik Freitag — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 11:18:00 +0000

Forum: Hardware
Topic: dual hard drive setup
Poster: Erik Freitag
Post title: SSD drives

[quote]Szabolcs Király wrote:

If you have the money for it, it might be worthwile to get an SSD as the drive C (about 64GB?[/quote]

An SSD drive generally speaking seems to be a good idea, but I'd strongly advise against 64GB: This just isn't enough. Windows 7 will occupy a lot of it, and remember: There is no possibility to install Trados Studio 2009 anywhere else than on the system drive (C:, that is)! A very peculiar decision which I hope will be changed in future versions.

dual hard drive setup | Just an opinion

Szabolcs Király — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 11:00:00 +0000

Forum: Hardware
Topic: dual hard drive setup
Poster: Szabolcs Király
Post title: Just an opinion

I'd do it like this in case of a desktop computer:
It's no so practical to put all important data on the C drive. Imagine that you have to format it at a point.
I'd suggest you to place every program and the OS on drive C and every document-like data (including TMs and music) on a completely different HDD. Windows pratically uses the HDD all the time and multi-tasking slows down every drive. Traditional HDDs have a limited read access and also the head needs to position itself on the required data which takes time. In my experience this single step of separating the OS/programs from docs speeds up the PC considerably.
If you have the money for it, it might be worthwile to get an SSD as the drive C (about 64GB?), they're quite fast. (An SSD is fast, however, do not place TMs on an SSD: TMs require indexing and this feature might level an SSD quickly. Be prepared that a 15000 rpm HDD will sound like a helicopter. It's not that comfortable if you spend hours next to it.)

[Módosítva: 2011-08-25 11:27 GMT]

dual hard drive setup

Shawn Champion — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 10:14:00 +0000

Forum: Hardware
Topic: dual hard drive setup
Poster: Shawn Champion

So I'm about to have a new computer put together. I like to have my computers pretty robust just to avoid upgrading them after one year. I notice that my current hard drive gets really sluggish when I do concordance searches with big TMs open. I can literally hear it looking.

I'm thinking one HDD at 15000 rpm 64 MB cache loaded with Windows, Trados, and all my TMs. This would be the C drive.

The 2nd HDD could then be a much cheaper, more standard HDD. This one would hold all my music files, I-tunes, etc.

Does this sound right at all? I'm pretty ignorant about this kind of thing. The idea is that the only running processes that would be accessing the C drive while I translate would be Windows and Trados.

Other specs: Windows 7 64 bit, 8 or 16 GB RAM, i-5 2500k.

Or, do all program files need to be installed on the C drive? Is there a big difference between SATA I and SATA III, for example?

I know I rambled a bit here... but thanks for any help you can provide.