I currently have a 500GB HDD that stores everything

I am wondering if I get a 1TB HDD and store all my music and movies/photos and documents on it, keeping the first hard drive for the OS and programs, would it speed up my computer slightly? as in booting up and loading programs faster?

also, if I did this, then took out the 1TB HDD, and wiped/reinstalled windows on the 500GB HDD, would I be able to put the 1TB HDD back in and still be able to access all my files? sounds like a stupid question but I can never be too sure!

Im going to uni hence why I am thinking of getting a new HDD
and no I cannot afford a ssd.

Thanks for any help

I'd expect a newer 1TB HDD to be faster for the OS etc than the 500GB one as the chances are it'll have a higher data density per area.
Partition the 1TB drive and use the first partition for your OS etc.

unless its a low-power "green" drive, they tend to be much slower. otherwise id clone/reinstall to the terabyte and keep the 500 as a backup drive

Given the original question and the level at which it was pitched (no offence), I believe the answer is most definitely yes. However, here's how you do it:

1) Turn off PC and swap the 500gb drive out, installing the 1TB (A Samsung Spinpoint F3 is the way to go here IMO)
2) Turn on the PC and follow the prompts to install windows. Ensure that when asked, you partition the 1TB into two partitions. One with anywhere between 100-200gig is where you install windows. Be sure to create the other partition, but leave it at that.
3) Once that's all comfortably up and running, turn the PC off, reinstall the 500gb drive and then when you reboot, you can copy all of your data across to the second partition of the first drive and, as discussed above, use the 500gb for backup purposes.

Hope that makes sense.