Microsoft Proposes to Get Rid of HDD Boot Drives

[Steve R.]

Microsoft wants to get rid of HDD boot drives by 2023

According to a report from analytics company Trendfocus (via Tom's Hardware), Microsoft is pushing those OEMs who use HDDs as the primary storage device in pre-built Windows...

www.techspot.com

According to a report from analytics company Trendfocus (via Tom's Hardware), Microsoft is pushing those OEMs who use HDDs as the primary storage device in pre-built Windows 11 PCs to switch to SSDs. It's even set a deadline for when it wants the transition to take place: 2023.

This seems like a no-brainer. I have often wondered, over the years, why no-one has proposed to use either a flash drives or an SD card located on the motherboard to boot solely the operating system of the computer. If there have been any such proposals, I have not heard of them.
Why so long to get around to this type of proposal?

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Because when an SSD dies, it is a son-of-a-witch to retrieve data compared to an HDD. I've had an SSD die on me. It wasn't pretty.

 

[Steve R.]

My level of expertise concerning SSD drives is close to "0". My comments may consequently be "off". I'm thinking in terms of an SD card, which I have used for storing data. My viewpoint may be simplistic. To me if an SD card fails the "solution" would simply be re-loading the operating system either from a DVD or by download. (Of course an update utilty would also be necessary.) Now, I'm just referring to the "core" operating system that you would get directly from Microsoft. Customizations and add-ons to the "core" operating system would have to be loaded from a back-up or recreated. Furthermore, I am not addressing add-on-packages, such as Access. Add-on packages, would be on a hard-drive (SSD or HDD) that has a least two partitions; one for the add-on-packages, the other for data.

 

[KitaYama]

Interestingly, these actions from Microsoft come without any firm SSD requirement listed for Windows 11 PCs, and OEMs have pushed back on the deadlines. We reached out to Microsoft for comment on the matter, but the company says it "has nothing to share on this topic at this time."

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/m...ll-hdd-boot-drives-for-windows-11-pcs-by-2023

Why so long to get around to this type of proposal?

Perhaps because of the prices. Do you know how much a 2TB internal SSD costs?

 

[Steve R.]

Perhaps because of the prices. Do you know how much a 2TB internal SSD costs?

You should not need a 2TB internal SSD card to store the operating system. Please note, that I consider the operating operating system to be distinct from add-on programs (such as Access) and data storage. Since I don't know the details of what Microsoft is proposing, my comments may be out-of-sync with Microsoft's intent.

A 256 GB SD card can be bought for approximately $50 depending on quality/speed/being-on-sale. The SD card would only be for the operating system to boot the computer. Nothing else.

Learn to Check How Much Space Does Windows 11 Take on Your Disk

How much space does Windows 11 take up on your disk? This article shows you a brief explanation, as well as the ways to free up disk space.

www.minitool.com

 

[KitaYama]

If I go for SSD, I go all in. I don't see any benefits in putting the OS on a SSD and then the data on HDD. Apparently OS works with apps and data. IF they are on a HDD, no matter how fast SSD is, it must wait for HDD to deliver the data and contents from APP from HDD.

At present when you purchase a brand new PC, it has a hard disk, partitioned to at least 4 sections. First partition keeps a special software to restore the PC in case of any booting failure. Another one keeps a copy of the install files used for reinstalling or going back to purchase time, another one is used as drive c: where windows will be installed.
The last partition is where the data is saved.

If it was me and I had the power to decide, I wouldn't take out only one of these partitions and put it on SSD, leave the rest on HDD.
But after all it's only me. Possibly others think differently.

 

[Pat Hartman]

Doc, why is recovery harder from an SSD than a HDD?

I just had a hard drive on an old PC die. I tried to remove it from the case so I could physically destroy it. The data was backed up so I didn't need to recover it. I just wanted to make sure that nothing could be recovered when the PC was recycled. You wouldn't believe what a PITA this turned out to be. You'd think since these things are theoretically replaceable , they would be easier to you know "replace". I ended up having to take the sucker to Best Buy and pay them $40 to remove a dead HD

Unfortunately, that was my perpetual license of Office 10. Not sure How I can get that back. It was pre-installed so I never had the CD's.

Is there a way to get my product key from MS or am I SOL?

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Doc, why is recovery harder from an SSD than a HDD?

The failure modes for SSD are a bit more catastrophic. My SSD simply would not respond to ANYTHING. My favorite local PC shop had the tools but indicated that the addressing circuitry had barfed. For an SSD, that is a death stroke since it is a big, fast memory card. At least monetarily, though, I was OK because the SSD was still within the warranty period when it died. They shop shrugged & took the old one back. Then they reloaded the O/S on the new one and I came back to reload the personal stuff.

While it is expensive, there ARE ways to recover data from an HDD head touch incident provided it was a minor touch. Fortunately, I had backed up my HDD recently and recovered my personal files. Didn't care about /Windows or /System, but did care about the /Users/Richard folder and its sub-structure. Ended up losing about 3 weeks worth of data but at the time I wasn't doing much so the loss was minuscule. Probably my biggest loss was three weeks worth of SPAM that I delete daily but then clean the wastebasket folder a little less often. Somehow I managed to live with the loss of my SPAM.

My writing was backed up about five different ways so no loss there. I may have lost just a couple of e-mails and a couple of days worth of changes to my genealogy project. But I was REALLY worried about SSDs after that event. My step-daughter is an IT professional from the UNIX world. She said her machines at work are over 3/4 SSD-based and the other with HDDs just haven't failed yet so haven't been replaced. She had access to the stats. Somewhere in the Watercooler I had a thread on the subject, mostly as a way to vent some steam.

 

[Gasman]

You should not need a 2TB internal SSD card to store the operating system. Please note, that I consider the operating operating system to be distinct from add-on programs (such as Access) and data storage. Since I don't know the details of what Microsoft is proposing, my comments may be out-of-sync with Microsoft's intent.

A 256 GB SD card can be bought for approximately $50 depending on quality/speed/being-on-sale. The SD card would only be for the operating system to boot the computer. Nothing else.

Learn to Check How Much Space Does Windows 11 Take on Your Disk

How much space does Windows 11 take up on your disk? This article shows you a brief explanation, as well as the ways to free up disk space.

www.minitool.com

Some laptops are only capable of taking one device?
Luckily my old laptop being 17" can take 2. I have upgraded them to 1TB boot and 2TB
backup.
I prefer plenty of space just as I prefer plenty of real estate with the 17" screen.

 

[Steve R.]

Some laptops are only capable of taking one device?

Having a slot for an SD card on the mother board would not constitute a "second" device. SD cards are quite small and have plenty of space to hold an operating system.