Reassigment of drive letters 2

[charleshx]

I have 2 HHD-s, a 30 GB and an 80 GB as well as a CD-ROM and DVD burner. They were originally set up with a very awkward drive lettering (don't ask me why and how - I don't know)

a: floppy 3 1/2"
c: 30 GB HD used as a slave for data only (video clips) Mod # ST330630A, NTFS single partition
d: CD ROM Samsung SC-148C
e: DVD burner: Sony DRU 500A DVD + - R/+ - RW ; CD - R/RW ATAPI/EIDE interface
f: 80 GB HD: master, boot up disc for system and all applications Mod# ST 380621A NTFS single partition
INTEL(r) 82801 BA bus Master IDE controller.

I am in the process to replace the 30 GB slave disc (again dedicated for the video clips) with a Maxtor 160 GB Ultra ATA/133 HD with its supplied Maxtor Ultra ATA/133 PCI adapter Card.

I wish to reassign the drive lettering to a "normal" sequence, like "c" for the 80 GB system disc, "d" for the 160 GB data disc, "e" for the CD-ROM and "f" for the DVD burner. I was told by a "guru" that it is not possible or very difficult. Is that correct? If not I would appreciate a step by step instruction how to proceed along with the installation of the new 160 GB disc. Thank you.

Dell Dimension 8200 1.7 Ghz, 256 MB RAM

 

[bcastner]

It is not by an stretch of the imagination reasonable to reassign the drive letters for the hard disk drives. The removable media drives can be moved around (with the exception of any game or other programs that expect the CD drive to be available at a certain drive letter.)

You can replace the slave drive with your new drive in conventional fashion. Because of the drive assignments, I am going to guess that you are using Windows XP. You can use the Disk Management tool to partition and format the drive when it is in place.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/reskit/prkb_cnc_otvz.asp

 

[lenm]

I am not certain about this but I seem to recall a small program that was written onto every new zip disk when you purchased them that would allow you to assign drive letters to any drive you wished so long as there were no conflicts. You might check the Iomega web site to see if this is still the case. I no longer use zip disks since cd burning became so inexpensive.

Hope this helps.

Lenm

 

[bcastner]

And there is an MS KB article on how to do it:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307844

The issue is that the registry has 10s of thousands of entries referring to specific driver letters, and the likely result of simply re-assigning drive letters is that the system will not boot and you may have to do clean install.

 

[charleshx]

Thanks fellows.
bcastner's referenhce to the article gave me all the info, but it quotes:
"many MS_DOS based and Windows based programs make references to a specific drive letter, if modified, these programs may not function properly"
This was what I was afraid of since I am using Windows XP Home.

 

[MDLU]

you probably know this, but here's a tip if you don't:
when you first install the operating system (or move the hard drive to a new computer), do it with only the boot drive installed and a CD-ROM. (plus, LAN, video, etc. of course) Also go ahead and install a few main programs (like MS Office) and get everything in place. Then, shut it off, plug in the second HD and boot. This should take care of your drive-letter issues. Note, that I said SHOULD. Sometimes Windows likes to change things a little, but this method is pretty reliable.

As for your current issue, bcastner is correct and you may as well not fool with it for now.

 

[j0ckser]

I have a similar issue but with Win98SE.

Original config:
c: Primary Master HD 1st partition
d: Primary Slave HD
e: Primary Master HD 2nd partition
f: CD

New preferred config:
c: Primary Master HD 1st partition
d: DVD/CD
e: Primary Master HD 2nd partition
f: Zip drive

Current config: (to allow programs on the 2nd partition to work until I sort this out)

c: Primary Master HD 1st partition
d: Primary Slave HD
e: Primary Master HD 2nd partition
f: Zip drive
g: DVD/CD

I am told there is a way to accomplish this using the config.sys, but don't know the command line.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

 

[Freestone]

Never used this, but sounds like what you want:

http://www.v72735.f2s.com/LetAssig/

 

[j0ckser]

Looks good to me.

tanx muchly

 

[charleshx]

I wonder if there is a Windows XP (Home) supported version of this apparently great program.

 

[charleshx]

Contacted Vadim Burtyansky through his program, but in his reply he suggested, that Windows XP doesn't need his solution, My Computer-->Manage-->Disc Management would do the job.
But...XP does not allow the change of the system disc. Period... Apparently the references are the problems.
So any suggestions? I still wish to change my system disk from F: to C: Mission impossible?

 

[bcastner]

I am almost 100% positive this will result in a non-working system under XP:

http://support.microsoft.com/defaul...port/kb/articles/Q223/1/88.ASP&NoWebContent=1

 

[miwin1000]

Unplug the second hard drive, and the cd-roms or burners, set the jumper setting on the remaining hard drive to "Single". Turn on the computer. Check to see that the hard drive is now the C: drive. Reinstall the other drives as you normally would, but remember to change the jumper setting on the master drive to Master or Master with Slave. This should resolve your drive letter problems.