Software that requires installation on C: 1

[tk808]

Hi all, Win XP:
Apparently, Matlab requires that it be installed on the C:. However, I have someone who wants to install Matlab not on his current master HD but on his new HD that has not been formatted yet. Eventually he will transfer all of his personal files on his old HD to his new one, but after formatting the new HD as C:, there's a problem with XP or bios recognizing the old HD (also labeled as C. What do you guys recommend? I told him the easiest way is to upload files to the server.

Thanks,

 

[MrLimo]

seems to me his best choice is to set the new hd as bootable, format & install the os... then rename the old hd & transfer his files. if you install the program on the new hd prior to formatting & installing the os, it's just gonna have to be reinstalled later, losing all info. He's trying to put the cart before the horse.

 

[linney]

Microsoft Knowledge Base Article - Q307844
HOW TO: Change Drive Letter Assignments in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;q307844&

"Changing the drive letter of the system volume or the boot volume is not inherent to Disk Management.
Many MS-DOS-based and Windows-based programs make references to a specific drive letter (for example, environment variables). If you modify the drive letter, these programs may not function correctly."

Assign, change, or remove a driver letter........Help and Support program

Moving a partition
thread779-859680

XP System Partition is NOT drive C:
thread779-641371

Change "system volume" drive letter
thread779-763819

Do a search in this Forum for Drive Letter.

 

[Nelviticus]

I wouldn't recommend changing the drive letter of your system partition. I did it on my machine from D: to C: and everything seemed to work, but dozens of registry entries still pointed to D:. This slowly began to cause problems; in the end I just had to reinstall.

My recommendation to tk808's friend would be to install it to C: and when he wants to switch to his new drive, just install all his apps again from scratch. In many ways Windows has a very primitive way of addressing drives so if you try to be too clever you can get into a complete mess.

Nelviticus