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Fumesucker

(45,851 posts)
Mon Mar 30, 2015, 09:53 AM Mar 2015

Best Buy: 120GB PNY solid state HD on sale for $39.99 with free shipping..

I just bought two of these, one for one of my computers and another for a neighbor, he had found the deal through an app he has on his iPhone and asked me about whether it was worthwhile for him. If you have a computer with a mechanical SATA HD and don't need huge storage space this should speed things up considerably for a nice price.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/pny-optima-120gb-internal-serial-ata-iii-solid-state-drive-for-laptops-multi/8191179.p?id=1219315690159&skuId=8191179

You will need something like EasUS Partition Master (free) to swap your OS over to the new HD, this unit does not come with software.

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Best Buy: 120GB PNY solid state HD on sale for $39.99 with free shipping.. (Original Post) Fumesucker Mar 2015 OP
not in my zip code area hobbit709 Mar 2015 #1
Sold out online. Earth Bound Misfit Mar 2015 #2
$50 instead of $40 but... discntnt_irny_srcsm Mar 2015 #3
I've got one of those sitting here unused csziggy Mar 2015 #4
A GREAT thing to learn to do w/windows 7: how to install whole 'Users' folder to NOT c:/ brett_jv Apr 2015 #5
I did that when I installed Windows 7 Pro csziggy Apr 2015 #6
My boss got one of these discntnt_irny_srcsm Apr 2015 #7
That's not really in my budget csziggy Apr 2015 #8
It is really expensive discntnt_irny_srcsm Apr 2015 #11
I like the looks of that one - but would like to see some reviews, first csziggy Apr 2015 #12
I've settled on these... discntnt_irny_srcsm Apr 2015 #13
That should do the job and at a great price! csziggy Apr 2015 #14
Huh ... well, I have tons and tons of stuff installed on my machine ... I have 3 HD's ... brett_jv Apr 2015 #9
It was some of the older ones that were the worst problems csziggy Apr 2015 #10

Earth Bound Misfit

(3,553 posts)
2. Sold out online.
Mon Mar 30, 2015, 07:11 PM
Mar 2015
This item is not available near the ZIP code you entered

120gb is probably too close for comfort for my laptop with VM's installed. Anyhoo thanks for lookin' out!

csziggy

(34,119 posts)
4. I've got one of those sitting here unused
Mon Mar 30, 2015, 11:53 PM
Mar 2015

It was my C: drive but I got tired of fighting with Windows to keep stuff off it - and Windows kept filling it to the brim. So I upgraded my C: drive to a 1 terabyte drive with a SSD cache. I see no difference in speed and Windows is happy.

I used EasUS (probably at your suggestion) and it made moving the OS incredibly easy. Thanks!

I need to get an external enclosure for the SSD drive to use it to move data. I have a 128GB thumb drive but in my last visit to my Mom's I nearly filled it with scans of old documents and pictures. While I try to bring home as much of that kind of stuff to scan as possible (my computer is at least twice as fast as the one I have use of there), some of the documents I am not allowed to remove from Mom's house.

Got a question - do you have any experience with external docking systems for drives? I'm up to about 6-8 terabytes of data I need to back up and I don't want to send it to "the cloud." My theory is to buy a dock for 2-4 SATA drives and swap out the drives on a regular basis, storing the ones I am not actively using off site. If I change the external drives out weekly and do incremental backups I won't lose much data if something goes south. I've looked at docking systems on NewEgg.com but I get burned out reading the specs and the reviews.

brett_jv

(1,245 posts)
5. A GREAT thing to learn to do w/windows 7: how to install whole 'Users' folder to NOT c:/
Tue Apr 7, 2015, 05:34 PM
Apr 2015

It's not as simple as just 'moving it' on an existing install, unfortunately, its something that you want to do when installing the OS but it's actually not THAT hard to pull off.

This process will configure EVERYTHING during install of Windows to forever 'look for' the Users folder (can also do it w/ProgramData folder which can also get pretty big ... note this is different from Program Files which CAN be moved as well but is not rec'd by MS) onto whatever HD you want it.

This way as Apps and Windows fill up your Users folder with 'stuff' (as will happen), it'll all be saved to a separate HD (typically you'd use a large drive 'D:/' drive for this).

Not only does it make using an SSD for your OS drive a LOT simpler, it also makes it so you can re-install windows onto the OS drive whenever you want w/o worrying about wiping all your personal files/game saves/whatever. Also makes it real easy to back up your personal stuff cause it's not 'mixed in' w/your OS on the same drive.

If anyone reading decides to do this shoot me a PM and I'll give ya some tips. The main ones being ... it's way easier to make the XML config file first, and put it on a USB drive before doing anything. And make sure you read teh WHOLE tutorial couple times AND print it out and have it handy while you're doing it.

csziggy

(34,119 posts)
6. I did that when I installed Windows 7 Pro
Tue Apr 7, 2015, 06:04 PM
Apr 2015

Unfortunately, too many of the programs I use regularly defaulted to putting info about the program on C: even when the program itself was NOT on C:

I ended up spending far too much time trying to force programs to not use C: for routine stuff. Finally I gave up and put in a 1 Terrabyte drive with a SSD cache for C: Now I can spend time actually doing things on my computer instead of fighting with it. And I don't notice any significant slow down since I changed from the SSD C: drive to the SSD cached C: drive.

I just have too many other things to worry about - like how I am going to keep a current backup of my 6 terrabytes of data (that is increasing rapidly as I scan hundreds of slides and thousands of pictures in addition to reams of old family documents). I spent one week scanning historical documents at my Mom's and came home with 128GB of data. And there are file cabinets more to deal with there in addition to the eight boxes here with my husband's family records and photos.

I just ordered an external enclosure that will let me use that SSD drive as additional external storage to supplement the 128 GB thumb drive I bought for that purpose.

csziggy

(34,119 posts)
8. That's not really in my budget
Tue Apr 7, 2015, 06:42 PM
Apr 2015

I'm thinking of a 2 or 4 bay dock with 4-8 drives that can be swapped out periodically. That way I can keep up with incremental backups, swap out the drives periodically and store the alternate set off site. With this idea, I can up my backup storage as needed with smaller drives.

Since I tend to scan quantities of data for different parts of the family during any one period of time, I could keep one drive for each branch and only swap that out when I add a new block of scans or information.

If I ever slow down on the scanning, that will also make it easier to sort out the data to create biographies of each individual in the genealogy.

csziggy

(34,119 posts)
12. I like the looks of that one - but would like to see some reviews, first
Tue Apr 7, 2015, 08:50 PM
Apr 2015

Though the blue LEDs would go with my computer case!

The scary part is my budget can't take much of a hit until closer to the end of the year. So I'm spending a lot of time burning DVDs with small parts of my data.

csziggy

(34,119 posts)
14. That should do the job and at a great price!
Tue Apr 7, 2015, 09:09 PM
Apr 2015

I've always liked Western Digital - used to know someone who had retired from designing their hard drives but it's been ten years since I "talked" to him online.

brett_jv

(1,245 posts)
9. Huh ... well, I have tons and tons of stuff installed on my machine ... I have 3 HD's ...
Tue Apr 7, 2015, 07:24 PM
Apr 2015

I changed the default install path (in environment variables) when installing apps to E:\Program Files instead of C:\Program Files so everything new automatically installs on the E: drive, and then like I say I have my ProgramData & Users folder (on the third drive D:\).

Seems like the vast majority of data generated by all my apps as I use them ends up on D: in one of the two folders there, and with these two 'changes' in play I've not had any difficulty keeping my OS disc down around 60-70GB.

Must be a particular quirk of some of the specific apps you use.

csziggy

(34,119 posts)
10. It was some of the older ones that were the worst problems
Tue Apr 7, 2015, 07:29 PM
Apr 2015

I have a few that date back to Win 3.1 and 98 - they were the worst. But I didn't have time to troubleshoot it anymore so changing out the drive for a bigger one was more efficient.

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