>    The reasoning I follow is this. If we take the example of a record
> (as in LP, vinyl), a point in the outside moves faster relative to a
> point closer to the center. If hard drives were vinyl LPs, I would want

That was the case with older drives. But definately all new drives have
a design built into them that allow the drive to spin at the same speed
thoughout the platter. Unfortunatly I can not think of the name of the
technology that allows this right now. It is the same thing that is used
in cdroms for the same purpose. So to answer the question , no it
doesn't matter on a performance or accesibility level where you store
crucial files.
As far as restoration goes, as long as you do the /s switch with the
format command or sys C:\ the drive will be bootable. If the cd throughs
a ro file that you need to change, use the attrib command. I think
attrib -r +a will make the file rw and archive.

-Spencer Underground