Working with programs and files in different drives

[burnselk]

My Pyro A/V Link came with Adobe Premiere Elements version 1.0 which is used to capture, edit, and send the finished video to my DVD burner. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
I installed program software (Adobe Premiere Elements) on my master drive (HD 1) before thinking anything about how I would need to use a larger drive to store my saved video. My master drive is only 40 GB and is nearly full already. My new slave is 250GB (only 137GB until I determine how to partition it so I can use the entire 250GB). <o:p></o:p>
By the way, both drives are internal and I have Windows XP Home Edition.<o:p></o:p>
Now to my question. Is there a way for me to save my captured video to my slave drive and still call it up into the program software on my primary drive so I can work with it (edit it and send it to my internal dvd burner)? <o:p></o:p>
I guesss the bottom line is: will I have problems accessing the captured video if it's on a different drive different from the program software? If so, what can I do to resolve my problem? Can the program software be installed on the slave drive? <o:p></o:p>
Downloaded video uses lots and lots of hard drive space and I need to keep it all of on my slave drive if at all possible. If not, I'll be extremely limited on the size of my captured video....plus this arrangement won't work because my tapes are long and will require more space than my master drive has available (only 4.5GB left). <o:p></o:p>
I'm told that 1 hour of downloaded video uses about 13GB of memory on a HD....and I have lots of video to download from my old tapes. And, it all has to be edited with the Adobe Premiere software before being sent to the DVD burner. <o:p></o:p>
My new 250 GB drive was intended to be used primarily for downloaded video.<o:p></o:p>
Right now I have about 6GB of downloaded video on HD 1 that I'd like to move to HD 2. <o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
If this will work (having the editing software on one drive and the video that needs to be edited on another drive) will it be easy for me to move the 6 GB file (my first captured video project) of video from HD 1 to HD 2? What would be the easiest and safest way to do this?<o:p></o:p>
My goal is to keep all of my downloaded video on the slave drive. <o:p></o:p>

Hope this makes sense. Sure would appreciate your help with my project.<o:p></o:p>

[Darthtanion]

Re: Working with programs and files in different drives

First off, for your hard drive you can either update to the latest Windows service pack to take care of the size limitation, or even easier is splitting the slaved hard drive into 2x 125GB partitions (just right click My Computer and choose Manage --> Disk Management).

Now that you should have full use of your entire hard drive, it should be a very simple matter to either go into the Adobe program options and choose a save location. Alternatively, if you have a project open already, you should be able to choose "Save As" and select an alternative location. There will be no issues with storing your data on a different drive, and this is actually a recommended way of doing things with files like this. If (when) you kill Windows, your data will still be safe when you reformat the C drive and reinstall the OS again.

[tuxfreak]

Re: Working with programs and files in different drives

on behalf of everyone here I wish to commend you on your use of absurdly large, bold, and pointless font :-P

[burnselk]

Re: Working with programs and files in different drives

I apoligize to all, I certainly did not intend for the font to be so large....my eyes must be worse than I thought. I did not mean to offend anyone. It will not happen again.

[burnselk]

Re: Working with programs and files in different drives

Darth, how do I actually create the two 125GB partitions when I get to "disk management"? I went there but it wasn't obvious how to do this. Please take me through the steps to enable me to do that. I like the idea of just two partitions. Thank you very much.

I completely understand what you said about moving the files from the master drive to the slave drive. Thanks.

[Darthtanion]

Re: Working with programs and files in different drives

It has been a long time since I have used this tool, so I'll see if I can recall the steps. Somebody correct me if I go astray...

Once you get into the Disk Management utility, you should see Drive 0 and Drive 1 as well as any other devices you have hooked up to your machine (CD/DVD/USB drives, etc). Drive 0 will be your boot drive and should reflect the size. Drive 1 should be the new "slaved" drive. If it is usable now, then it has already been formatted. You'll want to remove the current partition, then create 2 new ones to use up the space. REMEMBER: this will cause any data currently on this partition to be lost! Save first if necessary. When you create the first one, make it for 125GB instead of 137 (the maximum that your version of Windows can address. Once the partition is created, this should cause all remaining space on the drive to be seen by Windows and from there you would create another partition to take up the remaining space. If asked about "Dynamic Disk Drives" or converting to this, say NO! After the partitions are created, just right click the partition and there should be an option to format it. Since the drive sizes are 125GB in size, you will have no choice but to format in the NTFS file system.

[burnselk]

Re: Working with programs and files in different drives

Thanks Darth....I'll give it a try and let you know what happened....after I do a backup!

I appreciate your input on this.

By the way, I set my new 250GB to "cable select" when I installed it. Should I go back in and change the setting to "slave"?

The drive seems to be working fine....just wondering. I don't know why I set it to cable select.

The new drive also came with a new 40 pin/80 connector cable that I didn't use....although WD said "it must be installed". Will this make a difference? The new cable was just like the one that was being used for my master...so I just connected the new drive to the center connector of the old cable (this cable connector was also marked as slave).

I keep wondering about the "cable select" verses "slave". What is the difference?

[Darthtanion]

Re: Working with programs and files in different drives

CS, or Cable Select, is a setting that simply allows the system to read the drives in the order they show up on the IDE ribbon cable. The end port (furthest away from the motherboard connector) is the Master slot and the middle connector (between the end and the motherboard) is the slave port. By setting both drives to CS, it tells the system to use the Master as the bootable drive and the other drive as the slave. Enthusiasts have used these settings for quite some time, and it can come in handy when you're constantly moving drives from one system to another because of tweaking and such. It also means you don't have to move jumpers around all the time. Most modern mainboard will accept the CS setting and work fine, but some older models won't and you would be forced to use the normal jumper settings for master and slave. If it is working fine, then don't worry about it.

As to the ribbon cable, if your old cable is of the 80-pin variety, then you're fine. Several years ago the 40-pin/80-wire cables allowed for data to move at a afster rate without signal interference. Some systems using newer hard drives won't even work with the older 40-wire cables. If you're sure the old cable is of the 80-wire variety, then don't worry. Otherwise, it won't hurt to change out cables. Just remember to set the drives up in the correct order on the new cable since you'rwe using the CS setting on at least one of your drives.

[burnselk]

Re: Working with programs and files in different drives

Thanks Darth....next time I'm in there I'll double check the ribbon cable to make sure it's color coded and may even change it out.

One thing, my Master Drive (old C drive) is set to Master....not cable select.....and the Slave Drive (now F drive since I have a cd-rw and a dvd-rw now) is my new 250GB WD drive.

Should I go back and change any of the jumpers settings? Will "master" and "cable select" be OK or should I set the jumpers to master and slave?

[burnselk]

Re: Working with programs and files in different drives

You'll want to remove the current partition, then create 2 new ones to use up the space. REMEMBER: this will cause any data currently on this partition to be lost! Save first if necessary. When you create the first one, make it for 125GB instead of 137 (the maximum that your version of Windows can address. Once the partition is created, this should cause all remaining space on the drive to be seen by Windows and from there you would create another partition to take up the remaining space. If asked about "Dynamic Disk Drives" or converting to this, say NO! After the partitions are created, just right click the partition and there should be an option to format it. Since the drive sizes are 125GB in size, you will have no choice but to format in the NTFS file system.

Darth, when I got in there and started looking around....I "chickened" out and got out.....too much for a neophyte like me. I was sweatin it....and left in a hurry. I'll have to get up some courage before I can attempt to do all of that....and I don't fully understand what I'm doing. But I really do appreciate your input. You've been very helpful to me.