Adding a 2nd internal hard drive

[allig]

I’d like to install a 2nd internal hard drive on my pc as my main drive is too small. I’d like to have Lightroom and Photoshop running from my main drive where Windows (10) is installed, but move my Lightroom catalog to the second drive so that all of my work is stored there. I would not have an OS installed on the new drive. Is that a workable plan In terms of Lightroom / PS working efficiently? Can it work that way at all? Would it slow it down at all or cause any issues with working from 2 separate drives?

I hope this isn’t too ridiculous a question! I‘m a little clueless when it comes to how it all works in the background.

Thank you for your help.

[cmgap]

Where do you currently store your images? It may be more effective to keep your catalog files where they are and store all of your images onto the 2nd drive with an additional backup on an external drive. If you mother board fails and you cant access either drive you will lose your photos if they are not backed up. Alternatively you can store your photos externally and keep as much free disk space as possible... your pc may run faster with more free space.

[allig]

Cmgap,

Currently I store them on my C drive while I’m working on them, they are backed up to OneDrive, with original RAW files stored on an external Drive.

The other challenge I face with a 2nd internal drive is that I won’t have the benefit of OneDrive backups, so if I do have a failure none of my current work will be backed up. I need to weigh whether this is worth the risk or not, or if it’s possible to use OneDrive on the new storage drive without an operating system installed.

edited to add: I should probably note that I have a 256 GB SSD that I’ve had for 3 years with not one issue and though I could replace it, it’s so reliable that I don’t want to, thus my thinking that I could put another internal ssd in place of my CD drive. My only issue is that even after I have deleted every possible piece of data off it I still can only manage to ever have around 50gb of free space and I’m getting busier so I have too many sessions that I need on it at one time. I do some graphics work in addition to photography, designing multi layered billboards and posters,  so I absolutely need the space. Just thought it might help to know these details.

Thank you!

[cmgap]

Allig - I'd recommend that you leave your Catalog where it is and move your original photos off your internal hard drive to an external drive. This will free up space without compromising performance. You will have to update the location of the photos in Lr to the new drive however it's straightforward and Axel Matt has provided the links from Victoria (aka Lr Queen) to do this.

[allig]

But wouldn’t it slow down the processing significantly if I did that? External drives write so much slower than an internal SSD, I thought. Or are there externals that will write as quickly as internal drives? I wouldnt be opposed to that at all, in fact it would be easiest, but I just didn’t think an external would be a good working solution. I’ve got a fairly fast machine and it’s still sometimes painfully slow as it is.

[dj_paige]

Drive speed really doesn't affect Lightroom processing, except for trivial amounts that you won't notice. Storing photos on SSDs really doesn't help Lightroom; storing photos on external HDs really doesn't hurt Lightroom.

[allig]

I am so glad I asked this question! Thank you!  I’m so glad to learn this. I think my life just got a lot easier.

[cmgap]

Glad to help Allig.

[cmgap]

Lightroom is writing the edits to the sidecar XMP files using your internal processing power. As long as you are leaving your Lr catalog files on your internal drive you will not see a drop in performance. If however you move your Lightroom catalog files (not your photos) to an external drive, you might see a delay in response time.

Adobe installs Lightroom by default in your Pictures directory. Take a look at what is in that Lightroom folder so that you can see the .lrcat file, and .lrdata files. These are the specific files that you'd leave exactly where they are.

[allig]

That is really good to know, and makes for a super easy fix. Thank you so much!

[AxelMatt · Accepted solution]

allig  schrieb

I’d like to install a 2nd internal hard drive on my pc as my main drive is too small. I’d like to have Lightroom and Photoshop running from my main drive where Windows (10) is installed, but move my Lightroom catalog to the second drive so that all of my work is stored there. I would not have an OS installed on the new drive. Is that a workable plan In terms of Lightroom / PS working efficiently?

Yes.

allig  schrieb

Can it work that way at all?

Yes.

allig  schrieb

Would it slow it down at all or cause any issues with working from 2 separate drives?

No.

The only point to keep in mind is the location on which you have stored your pictures. The moving of the exiasting catalog to the 2nd hard drive isn't a problem. If you also move your pictures to the new hard drive they where signed a missing in the catalog.

Here you'll find appropriate infomations to move catalog and pictures to a new location.

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/move-photos-another-hard-drive-leaving-catalog/

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/move-rename-catalog/

https://www.lightroomqueen.com/lightroom-photos-missing-fix/

[allig]

Thank you very much, Axel Matt. This is a huge help.

[allig]

I've successfully moved them to the external drive, found them again in Lightroom, and it's working great so far.  THANK YOU!!!

[cmgap]

Excellent - good work : )