WD Caviar Black 2TB as boot drive for Windows 7 32-bit?

Chappy · Oct 10, 2011

I'll be replacing my WD VelociRaptor 300GB for 2TB Caviar Black. Anyone here have used it as a Boot drive? I'll be installing Win 7 Ultimate 32-bit. Is there any problems, that I need to know before I sell & replace my Raptor?

Thanks in Advance!

erocker · Oct 10, 2011

Nope, it's a regular HDD and there should be no issue. What are your concerns?

qubit · Oct 10, 2011

It'll work fine. I wouldn't be surprised if the performance is actually somewhat higher than the VelociRaptor, either - check out a review or two.

Chappy · Oct 10, 2011

None, I'm just worried it might have problems or issues so I need to make sure before I sell it. For assurance. Thanks - erocker

Your right qubit I've found a review that they've regret buying a raptor because of this.
Thanks - qubit

lilhasselhoffer · Oct 10, 2011

Chappy said:
None, I'm just worried it might have problems or issues so I need to make sure before I sell it. For assurance. Thanks - erocker

Your right qubit I've found a review that they've regret buying a raptor because of this.
Thanks - qubit

You won't have any issues. The potential problem is with 3TB HDDs. Just stay away from them until you've got a UEFI based ROM and you won't have any problems.

*Problem is with boot. As a storage drive you'll only need the knowledge to use a specific formatting to get the maximum storage space.

hat · Oct 10, 2011

I just gotta ask... why 32 bit? You're already way over the 4GB address space limit with your currently existing 4GB system ram, plus whatever's on that GTX280 of yours. Try installing the 64 bit version.

LagunaX · Oct 10, 2011

Yeah I would agree Windows 7 x64 is very nice and you won't get the ram limitations from 3.25gb minus whatever your videocard ram is.
So unless you need to pay for a new OS, x64 is the way to go.

crazyeyesreaper · Oct 10, 2011

x32 license works on x64 theres no reason to use x32 with Windows 7

Chappy · Oct 20, 2011

Been staying in 32-bit for compatibility issues in my ancient programing software's. Guess I'll switch later after I upgrade my RAM.

m4gicfour · Oct 20, 2011

Chappy said:
Been staying in 32-bit for compatibility issues in my ancient programing software's. Guess I'll switch later after I upgrade my RAM.

You have Win7 Ultimate. The 32bit key will work with 64bit.

Does your programming software work with XP? If so you can use Win7x64 with XP Mode (info). (download link) Win7 Professional and Ultimate are eligible to download this fully liscenced, virtualized copy of windows XP. Works great, for most things, so long as you don't need D3D support in the VM.

If you already have an installed copy of Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate (32 or 64 bit) you can download XP mode now to find out if your software works with it, and hence whether you can do the new install in 64-bit.

Goodman · Oct 20, 2011

You do video editing?
Because you name your system movie maker if so you would greatly benefit using Win7 64bit & more ram

twilyth · Oct 20, 2011

When using such a big drive to boot from, I would create a boot partition of at least 60 gig. I use 120gig since I tend to accumulate a lot of crap in my documents and download directories.

Doing this makes it much easier to do image backups of the boot drive/partition. And there really isn't any substitute for an image backup if you want your system back the it was post haste.

Chappy · Nov 7, 2011

Goodman said:
You do video editing?
Because you name your system movie maker if so you would greatly benefit using Win7 64bit & more ram

Yeah

I'd really benefit a LOT since Adobe After Effects CS4 uses RAM preview and stuff. But maybe I'll upgrade my RAM later and move up in 64-bit. (My wallet is currently really light right now

)

m4gicfour said:
You have Win7 Ultimate. The 32bit key will work with 64bit.

Does your programming software work with XP? If so you can use Win7x64 with XP Mode (info). (download link) Win7 Professional and Ultimate are eligible to download this fully liscenced, virtualized copy of windows XP. Works great, for most things, so long as you don't need D3D support in the VM.

If you already have an installed copy of Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate (32 or 64 bit) you can download XP mode now to find out if your software works with it, and hence whether you can do the new install in 64-bit.

No, I only have Windows 7 Home Premium (I think the license won't work in Ultimate/Pro). And Yes, my programming software only works in XP 32-bit. (My university's at fault :laugh:

)

twilyth said:
When using such a big drive to boot from, I would create a boot partition of at least 60 gig. I use 120gig since I tend to accumulate a lot of crap in my documents and download directories.

Doing this makes it much easier to do image backups of the boot drive/partition. And there really isn't any substitute for an image backup if you want your system back the it was post haste.

Hey, your right; never thought of that. Can I still partition my drive? Since I already have the OS installed. Also I think backing it up after the newly fresh OS was installed was more better. I already populated the OS with games, adobe suites, encoding software's and stuffs... Never had a whole OS backup but my MOBO GA-EP45-DQ6 have this recovery thing in the start up.

twilyth · Nov 7, 2011

Chappy said:
Hey, your right; never thought of that. Can I still partition my drive? Since I already have the OS installed. Also I think backing it up after the newly fresh OS was installed was more better. I already populated the OS with games, adobe suites, encoding software's and stuffs... Never had a whole OS backup but my MOBO GA-EP45-DQ6 have this recovery thing in the start up.

If you're on W7, then you should be able to do it from the disk manager. Of course you can only use blank space for the new partition, so depending on what you meant, maybe the answer is no. You can try using all of the free space and then moving things over. Once you do that, you can resize the boot partition. Kind of a pain in the ass, but that should work.

edit: As you know, re-partioning can be a risky process. You never know when the power might go out or get a BSOD. So you really need to have a complete backup before attempting this. At the very least, I would have a UPS for the computer and monitor.

Also when I say "all", you really need to leave at least a hundred meg or so free on the boot partition.

System Name	Movie Maker
Processor	Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 @ 3.40Ghz
Motherboard	GA-EP45-DQ6
Cooling	OCZ
Memory	Corsair Dominator DDR2 8GB (4X2GB) DDR2
Video Card(s)	XFX GTX 280 XXX Edition (670Mhz)
Storage	WD Caviar Black (2X) 2TB RAID-0 & WD Caviar Green 2TB
Display(s)	Samsung T220
Case	Gigabyte 3D Aurora
Audio Device(s)	Realtek (Integrated)
Power Supply	Corsair HX1000
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit

Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard	ASUS TUF x670e
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Power Supply	FSP Hydro Ti PRO 1000W
Mouse	Razer Basilisk V3 Pro
Keyboard	Tester84
Software	Windows 11

System Name	Quantumville™
Processor	Intel Core i7-2700K @ 4GHz
Motherboard	Asus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3
Cooling	Noctua NH-D14
Memory	16GB (2 x 8GB Corsair Vengeance Black DDR3 PC3-12800 C9 1600MHz)
Video Card(s)	MSI RTX 2080 SUPER Gaming X Trio
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Display(s)	ASUS ROG Strix XG27UQR (4K, 144Hz, G-SYNC compatible) \| Asus MG28UQ (4K, 60Hz, FreeSync compatible)
Case	Cooler Master HAF 922
Audio Device(s)	Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty PCIe
Power Supply	Corsair AX1600i
Mouse	Microsoft Intellimouse Pro - Black Shadow
Keyboard	Yes
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

System Name	Movie Maker
Processor	Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 @ 3.40Ghz
Motherboard	GA-EP45-DQ6
Cooling	OCZ
Memory	Corsair Dominator DDR2 8GB (4X2GB) DDR2
Video Card(s)	XFX GTX 280 XXX Edition (670Mhz)
Storage	WD Caviar Black (2X) 2TB RAID-0 & WD Caviar Green 2TB
Display(s)	Samsung T220
Case	Gigabyte 3D Aurora
Audio Device(s)	Realtek (Integrated)
Power Supply	Corsair HX1000
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit

System Name	Starlifter :: Dragonfly
Processor	i7 2600k 4.4GHz :: i5 10400
Motherboard	ASUS P8P67 Pro :: ASUS Prime H570-Plus
Cooling	Cryorig M9 :: Stock
Memory	4x4GB DDR3 2133 :: 2x8GB DDR4 2400
Video Card(s)	PNY GTX1070 :: Integrated UHD 630
Storage	Crucial MX500 1TB, 2x1TB Seagate RAID 0 :: Mushkin Enhanced 60GB SSD, 3x4TB Seagate HDD RAID5
Display(s)	Onn 165hz 1080p :: Acer 1080p
Case	Antec SOHO 1030B :: Old White Full Tower
Audio Device(s)	Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro - Bose Companion 2 Series III :: None
Power Supply	FSP Hydro GE 550w :: EVGA Supernova 550
Software	Windows 10 Pro - Plex Server on Dragonfly
Benchmark Scores	>9000

WD Caviar Black 2TB as boot drive for Windows 7 32-bit?

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Processor	e8500 Q822A549 4.5ghz AIR
Motherboard	Foxconn Mars P35
Cooling	TRUE
Memory	2 x2GB Patriot Viper 1066 5-5-5-12 @ 1.8v
Video Card(s)	Sapphire 5870 Unlocked
Storage	300gb Velociraptor
Display(s)	Dell 24" Ultrasharp
Case	Coolermaster CM690
Power Supply	PC Power & Cooling 750w Quad Silencer
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate x86

System Name	Old reliable
Processor	Intel 8700K @ 4.8 GHz
Motherboard	MSI Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon AC
Cooling	Custom Water
Memory	32 GB Crucial Ballistix 3666 MHz
Video Card(s)	MSI GTX 1080 Ti Gaming X
Storage	3x SSDs 2x HDDs
Display(s)	Dell U2412M + Samsung TA350
Case	Thermaltake Core P3 TG
Audio Device(s)	Samson Meteor Mic / Generic 2.1 / KRK KNS 6400 headset
Power Supply	Zalman EBT-1000
Mouse	Mionix NAOS 7000
Keyboard	Mionix

Processor	Ryzen 7 5800X3D
Motherboard	MSI MAG X570S Tomahawk Max WiFi
Cooling	EK Supremacy EVO Elite + EK D5 + EK 420 Rad, TT Toughfan 140x3, TT Toughfan 120x2, Arctic slim 120
Memory	32GB GSkill DDR4-3600 (F4-3600C16-8GVKC)
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte Radeon RX 7900XTX Gaming OC
Storage	WDBlack SN850X 4TB, Samsung 950Pro 512GB, Samsung 850EVO 500GB, 6TB WDRed, 36TB NAS, 8TB Lancache
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Cooling	Scythe Mugen 2 rev.B
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Case	Cooler Master HAF 912
Audio Device(s)	On-Board HD
Power Supply	CM 750w GX \|3.3v@25a\|5v@25a\|12v@60a
Software	Kubuntu dual boot /Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
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