How should you use your PC's D drive?

[flobadob]

We have an 80GB PC. However I've noticed that when I look at the C and D drives when I click on Start then My Computer, on the C drive it shows 25GB free from a total of 53GB but on the D drive it shows 18.5GB free from a total of 18.5GB. I've never really looked at the D drive and don't know should I be utilising it or is it better to leave it well alone. What is the point of the D drive and why does a PC not just use the C drive for everything?

[TTG]

If you have two drives, it is good practice to keep the C drive just for the operating system and installed programs. I too have a D drive and store my personal files on there (video, music, spreadsheets, documents, photos etc).

[flobadob]

I can see what you mean I could move stuff onto the D drive. But is it safer than the C drive? If I lose stuff from the C drive will the D drive keep info. I can't really see the point of having both.

[rov1200]

A partitioned drive is sometimes used to have 2 different operating systems. Also in the old DOS operating systems it was possible to accidently delete a whole drive with the *.* commands.

[pauln90]

My hard drive is partitioned into a C and D drive . C has the operating system and programmes and the D drive has all my documents,photos,videos etc. In the event of a problem with the operating system I can format the C drive and reinstall windows without losing all the data on the D drive. But as always it is always best to regularly back up all your data onto discs or an external hard drive.

[Vagrant]

The D drive is no safer than the C drive - disks fail (this applies to all computers, from home PCs to supercomputers that the likes of NASA use).
In fact, the C and D drives may not be separate drives - on a laptop, they're more likely to be 2 partitions of the same physical drive.
There are several reasons why PCs don't use the C drive for everything. One is that if there is more than one physical drive, it's much easier, (from an operating system point of view) to call the various drives C, D, E, etc. Another reason is simply tidiness and ease of administration - e.g. if all your personal stuff is on D, you could (for example) upgrade the operating system on C (XP to Vista, for example) without worrying about preserving personal data. A few years ago, it was fashionable to partition single drives into C and D - I suspect this is why you've got 2 drives.
As far as using them is concerned, use them however you like - there is no real difference.

[AlBags]

A good reason is to transfer My Documents (as a whole) to your D drive. This will leave more space around the O System and defrags will probably be quicker. There will also be more room for video editing, or saving/making movie files (if you ever do it) Also, your My Docs are always safe if you have to Format and reload Windows.
Changing My Docs to your "D" is easy and operation is invisible.
R-Click on your desktop My Docs Folder
Properties
Move button on first tab
Select "D"
Move all files and folders and wait til complete.
Now anything associated with My Docs uses this location on your "D" drive .. you would never tell difference.
Afterwards, defrag your "C"