C Drive Vs D Drive — What’s the Difference?
When you use a Windows computer, the drives or partitions are displayed as drive letters in the File Explorer or This PC, with the default labels such as Local Disk or USB Drive.
The letter C is reserved for the system drive or the Operating System (OS) drive, which contains all the default system and application files for Windows.
Additionally, the user-specific files for the applications are also stored in the C Drive, along with the unique Windows logo icon. The letter D is generally assigned to non-system drives, which are usually additional local disks or removable disks like USB flash drives. Older computers might have the CD/DVD as the D drive.
Difference between C and D Drives
When you first use a computer, the local D drive is usually empty, unlike the C drive, which already has the system files. Depending on the number of storage disks you are using, you can have C and D drives on the same disk or different disks.
According to Randall Jones from EaseUS, “The C drive can be left for the system’s files, while the D drive can be used to store personal data.” He mentions, “This differentiation ensures that users can optimize the physical memory of the Windows system.”
Although the C and D drives are just the default classifications, there are some basic differences between them. For instance, the C drive is usually assigned the default letter C: by the system during the installation process, while the letter D: is assigned to an additional partition you create later.
Moreover, the file explorer displays the mounted drives based on ascending drive letter, which means that the location of the drives might not correspond with their letters. To view the correct location of the drives, you need to use Disk Management.
Additionally, you can allocate any size to the C or D drive since you can create partitions of any size, but it’s recommended to use 100 GB to 150 GB for the C drive. You can specify the size of the D drive based on its intended purpose. According to Aasis Jain from All the Difference, “using the D drive reduces the burden on the C drive, potentially improving the performance of your computer.”
It’s essential to note that it’s not possible to shrink the D drive and then expand the C drive or shrink the C drive and expand the D drive unless you use third-party applications. However, it’s possible to move the contents of the D drive to an external hard drive or cloud storage and then shrink the D drive to expand the C drive. Understanding the differences between the C and D drives can help you make informed decisions on where to store your files, which can improve your productivity and performance.
