{"id":5978,"date":"2023-05-10T18:26:04","date_gmt":"2023-05-10T12:56:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/?p=5978"},"modified":"2023-05-11T18:07:01","modified_gmt":"2023-05-11T12:37:01","slug":"c-drive-vs-d-drive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/resources\/c-drive-vs-d-drive\/","title":{"rendered":"C Drive vs D Drive: Their Differences in the Windows Operating System"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Windows OS uses a letter assignment system to distinguish the different disks and partitions. The C drive is the letter Windows assigns to the local disk or partition that holds the operating system. The D drive is the default letter assigned to the first secondary drive, and subsequent drives or partitions will be named E, F, and so on, by default.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I remember back when I was using Windows XP, I opened \"My Computer\" and suddenly wondered why the drives had the letters that they did. Over the years, my experience has shown me all the differences between the C drive vs D drive, and I've gained a lot of knowledge about drive letter assignments in general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you're here wanting to know more about the C drive vs D drive, then this guide will be perfect for you. Let's get right into everything that you need to know about this topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_64 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-white ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-66156d37e722b\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-66156d37e722b\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/resources\/c-drive-vs-d-drive\/#What_is_the_C_Drive\" title=\"What is the C Drive?\">What is the C Drive?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/resources\/c-drive-vs-d-drive\/#What_is_the_D_Drive\" title=\"What is the D Drive?\">What is the D Drive?<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/resources\/c-drive-vs-d-drive\/#Are_All_Secondary_Drives_Named_D\" title=\"Are All Secondary Drives Named D?\">Are All Secondary Drives Named D?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/resources\/c-drive-vs-d-drive\/#What_Are_the_Major_Differences_Between_the_C_and_D_Drives\" title=\"What Are the Major Differences Between the C and D Drives?\">What Are the Major Differences Between the C and D Drives?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/resources\/c-drive-vs-d-drive\/#Why_Does_Your_Local_Disk_Need_a_Drive_Letter\" title=\"Why Does Your Local Disk Need a Drive Letter?\">Why Does Your Local Disk Need a Drive Letter?<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/resources\/c-drive-vs-d-drive\/#Why_is_There_No_A_or_B_Drive\" title=\"Why is There No A or B Drive?\">Why is There No A or B Drive?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/resources\/c-drive-vs-d-drive\/#How_Can_I_Change_the_Drive_Letter\" title=\"How Can I Change the Drive Letter?\">How Can I Change the Drive Letter?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/resources\/c-drive-vs-d-drive\/#Why_Should_I_Use_My_D_Drive_for_Storing_Data_Instead_of_the_C_Drive\" title=\"Why Should I Use My D Drive for Storing Data Instead of the C Drive?\">Why Should I Use My D Drive for Storing Data Instead of the C Drive?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/resources\/c-drive-vs-d-drive\/#Final_Words\" title=\"Final Words\">Final Words<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_the_C_Drive\"><\/span>What is the C Drive?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When you install the Windows operating system on your computer, the local disk or partition that you installed the OS to is automatically assigned as the C drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, on any computer running Windows, when you see the C drive, you know it is the disk drive that contains the system files necessary for the operating system to be able to boot up and work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The C drive, being the primary partition on your computer, is the one that applications get installed by default. After all, this is where you'll find the \"Program Files\" folder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, you can also select another partition (like the D drive or any other drive letters) as the primary partition to install the operating system onto. But most computers use the C drive as the primary partition by default.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/HDD-with-Other-Computer-Parts-1200x800.jpg\" alt=\"HDD with Other Computer Parts\" class=\"wp-image-6123\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/HDD-with-Other-Computer-Parts.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/HDD-with-Other-Computer-Parts-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/HDD-with-Other-Computer-Parts-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_the_D_Drive\"><\/span>What is the D Drive?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The D drive is the first disk drive after your C drive, so you can consider it to be the first of your computer's secondary drives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your D drive is a non-essential disk drive because your computer doesn't actually need it to run. You can do everything you need on a computer with only \"Local Disk (C:)\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The D drive might not be a separate physical disk drive either. It might be a different partition on the same physical drive as the C drive, but regardless, it gets a different letter to distinguish it from the other one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The D drive can be used for different purposes depending on your computer's setup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most people use their D drive purely as a data storage device since it doesn't have any system files on it. This means it is where you can put music, videos, documents, and other personal files.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, your D drive doesn't have to be used to store files! If you have an optical drive like a DVD or CD-ROM, it will usually get the D drive letter assigned to it by default.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But like I said earlier, you can even install an operating system on the D drive. In this case, you can choose to install programs on your D drive if you want to, but most people don't do this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the case of prebuilt computers, such as laptops, the D drive might be what the manufacturer uses as a recovery disk. A recovery disk can be used to restore your computer to factory settings in the event of a crash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Are_All_Secondary_Drives_Named_D\"><\/span>Are All Secondary Drives Named D?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have a secondary drive on your computer, it does not need to be named the D drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For instance, if you have more than one disk drive connected, one will be D, the next will be E, then F, and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But what's interesting is that if you know how, you can entirely skip some letters. Right after the C drive, you can name your next drive \"G\" if you want to!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Are_the_Major_Differences_Between_the_C_and_D_Drives\"><\/span>What Are the Major Differences Between the C and D Drives?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, from everything that we've talked about so far, you should have a good idea of the differences between the C drive vs D drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, let me break things down side-by-side to make the differences between your \"Local Disk (C:)\" and \"Local Disk (D:)\" clearer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Your C drive is essential as it is always the disk that the operating system is installed on. The D drive is non-essential as not all computers with Windows have a partition with this letter.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You can't change the drive letter for a C drive (Windows won't disable the option, but doing it can break a lot of paths and directories and at the very worst, stop your PC from booting). But you can change the drive letter for your D drive to anything else without problems.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The C drive always points to a hard drive, but your D drive can point to an internal or external hard drive, DVD drive, or even an external floppy disk drive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The C drive is used to store your computer's system data primarily, while the D drive doesn't have a specific function.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Graphical-Representation-of-Files-and-Folders-1200x800.jpg\" alt=\"Graphical Representation of Files and Folders\" class=\"wp-image-5984\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Graphical-Representation-of-Files-and-Folders.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Graphical-Representation-of-Files-and-Folders-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Graphical-Representation-of-Files-and-Folders-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_Does_Your_Local_Disk_Need_a_Drive_Letter\"><\/span>Why Does Your Local Disk Need a Drive Letter?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>It might seem a little strange to you, but there's a reason why all the disk partitions and drives connected to your computer need drive letters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because you can have numerous different drives connected to your PC, your computer needs to be able to tell them apart from one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is simply what a drive letter does. It lets your operating system know which drive or partition is which. This way, it knows where to go when it sees a path such as Local Disk (C:)\\Users\\My Name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_is_There_No_A_or_B_Drive\"><\/span>Why is There No A or B Drive?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>But wait. Why is the drive letter for the system drive - the most important partition - called C instead of A or B?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, there's a very good reason for that, to be honest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Back then, floppy disks were the primary form of external storage. This lasted for about 20 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You couldn't use an external drive or flash drive back in those days. Even CD drives weren't an option for some time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because of that, older operating systems used the A and B drives for floppy disk drives. A was usually used to run the floppy disk containing the OS, while B was the floppy drive used for running other programs or transferring data. As a result, a lot of people had two floppy disks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, for a very long time, you'd see an A, B, and C drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, as floppy disks became obsolete and eventually phased out, the Windows system structure didn't change, likely because this might have thrown a lot of conventions out of sync.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, even up to today, you'll find that the C drive is the first one on your computer because floppy disks no longer take up their rightful spot as the A and B drives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_Can_I_Change_the_Drive_Letter\"><\/span>How Can I Change the Drive Letter?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Now that you know everything behind the C drive vs D drive on your computer, you've realized that you can change the name of the D drive if you want to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The best part is that doing this is not really a complicated process but you probably won't find it on your own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Don't worry, because I'll show you exactly how to do this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is <strong>extremely<\/strong> important to note that this entire process will be enabled for changing the drive letter for the C drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I highly advise against changing the drive letter for the C drive as it contains your Windows system data. This can potentially break a lot of applications that look for the \"C:\\\" path, and may even mess up your OS and Windows files as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol>\n<li>Right-click the Start button in the bottom-left corner of the desktop.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Select \"Disk Management\".<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>From this window, you'll be able to see all the disks and partitions on your PC, with details on each one. Right-click the D drive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Choose \"Change Drive Letter and Paths...\".<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>From the new window that appears, select the drive letter that you want to change.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Press \"Change\".<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This will bring up another window. Make sure the \"Assign the following drive letter:\" option is ticked.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Open the drop-down menu to the right side of the window.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This list will have all the letters that are available for you to choose from, excluding the C drive and any others that are currently in use. Choose the one that you want.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Click \"OK\" to close the window.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Click \"OK\" on the other window.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>That's it! You've now reassigned the drive letter for your D drive. You can repeat this process for any other secondary drives that you have.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/PC-User-Typing-on-the-Black-Keyboard-1200x800.jpg\" alt=\"PC User Typing on the Black Keyboard\" class=\"wp-image-5985\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/PC-User-Typing-on-the-Black-Keyboard.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/PC-User-Typing-on-the-Black-Keyboard-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/PC-User-Typing-on-the-Black-Keyboard-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_Should_I_Use_My_D_Drive_for_Storing_Data_Instead_of_the_C_Drive\"><\/span>Why Should I Use My D Drive for Storing Data Instead of the C Drive?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, when your D drive is a hard disk, it is typically used to store personal files and anything that is not a program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But if your C drive has enough free space, then why can't you just put your personal files onto it instead?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, I used to like to have all my data on one hard drive because it seemed like a lot less of a headache, plus it saved me the trouble of having to buy another computer component.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, I've learned why separating personal data onto another hard drive or partition is important, no matter how much free space you have on your system disk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It's simply because having your personal data on a separate drive means that those files will be safe in the event that your C drive fails or Windows encounters some kind of major error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This means you can easily reinstall Windows on the C drive without losing any of your files, and pick up right where you left off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While you might not have ever needed to take advantage of this safety measure, I have, and I was so glad that I did because some of the personal data that would have been lost were the kinds that I simply wouldn't be able to ever get back. For this reason, I recommend that you transfer files that are important to you to your secondary drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also, I've found that you'll get a mild performance boost when reading large files off of a drive that doesn't contain the system partition. After all, Windows is constantly reading off that drive, and pushing it to open data off the same drive can cause a bit of a performance hit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/resources\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Read more resources<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Final_Words\"><\/span>Final Words<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Your C drive and D drive are both important on your computer but for different reasons. The C drive is what the system recognizes as the location for OS files, so when booting, it looks for this drive letter. Every computer with Windows will have a C drive. The D drive is a secondary drive and can be used for storage or for a CD or DVD drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There's no A or B drive because these were traditionally used for floppy disks. However, you can change the drive letter of your D drive to A, B, or any other free letter by using the Disk Management utility in Windows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Was this article able to tell you everything that you need to know about how the C drive stacks up against the D drive in Windows? If so, take a look at our related articles to learn a whole lot more about your computer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Windows OS uses a letter assignment system to distinguish the different disks and partitions. The C drive is the letter Windows assigns to the local disk or partition that holds the operating system. The D drive is the default letter assigned to the first secondary drive, and subsequent drives or partitions will be named [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":6128,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[24],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5978"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5978"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6129,"href":"https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5978\/revisions\/6129"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpuforever.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}