cannot change second hard drive letter to (D)

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Hi I installed a second hard drive in my computer which also has a cd rom
and dvd writer. It appears in my computer etc as drive (F). I have tried
changing the drive letter in Administrative Tools/Computer management/Disk
management but the only options available for that drive are, Convert to
Dynamic Disk, Properties and Help.

I changed the CD and DVD drive letters to (G) and (H) but I still cannot get
the drive changed from (F) to (D). I even removed the optical drives and the
second hard disk rebooted the computer, switched it off and reconnected the
second hard drive. When the computer had rebooted I still had the second
drive as (F) Both drives are NTFS formatted. When I reconnected the 2
optical drives they were also still assigned the drive letters (G) and (H)
Ay suggestions? Tricia
PS what does Convert to Dynamic Disk mean?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Hi, Tricia.

Pegasus made some good points. I'd like to add a couple...

Disk Management can change any drive letters EXCEPT your System Partition
and your Boot Volume; the only good way to change these is by reinstalling
WinXP. See this KB article for changing the other drive letters:
How to change drive letter assignments in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307844&sd=tech

This KB article tells how to change the System and Boot volume letters in
Win2K. It applies generally to WinXP as well but I don't know the KB # for
the same info for WinXP:
Cannot Change System Volume Drive Letter After Setup
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;223769

You know, of course, that a "drive" letter actually does not refer to a hard
drive, but to a primary partition or a logical drive in an extended
partition on that HD. You can create a partition covering the whole
physical drive, but the "drive" letter still refers to just the partition,
not the physical drive. If your first HD has been partitioned into multiple
partitions, the letter D: is probably assigned to one of those partitions
and is not available now, especially if D: is your boot volume.

As it says in KB 223769 (revised for WinXP):
NOTE: The boot volume is where the \Windows folder is located, the system
volume is where the boot files (boot.ini, ntdetect.com, etc.) are located.

I've never tried dynamic disks but, from what I've heard, I agree with
Pegasus that you probably do NOT want that. For details, look in the Disk
Management Help file; that file is quite extensive and can answer many of
your questions.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
rc@corridor.net
Microsoft Windows MVP

"Tricia" <tricialal2000@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:u3iHyD3OFHA.524@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> Hi I installed a second hard drive in my computer which also has a cd rom
> and dvd writer. It appears in my computer etc as drive (F). I have tried
> changing the drive letter in Administrative Tools/Computer management/Disk
> management but the only options available for that drive are, Convert to
> Dynamic Disk, Properties and Help.
>
> I changed the CD and DVD drive letters to (G) and (H) but I still cannot
> get the drive changed from (F) to (D). I even removed the optical drives
> and the second hard disk rebooted the computer, switched it off and
> reconnected the second hard drive. When the computer had rebooted I still
> had the second drive as (F) Both drives are NTFS formatted. When I
> reconnected the 2 optical drives they were also still assigned the drive
> letters (G) and (H)
> Ay suggestions? Tricia
> PS what does Convert to Dynamic Disk mean?

 

[anna]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

"Tricia" <tricialal2000@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:u3iHyD3OFHA.524@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> Hi I installed a second hard drive in my computer which also has a cd rom
> and dvd writer. It appears in my computer etc as drive (F). I have tried
> changing the drive letter in Administrative Tools/Computer management/Disk
> management but the only options available for that drive are, Convert to
> Dynamic Disk, Properties and Help.
>
> I changed the CD and DVD drive letters to (G) and (H) but I still cannot
> get the drive changed from (F) to (D). I even removed the optical drives
> and the second hard disk rebooted the computer, switched it off and
> reconnected the second hard drive. When the computer had rebooted I still
> had the second drive as (F) Both drives are NTFS formatted. When I
> reconnected the 2 optical drives they were also still assigned the drive
> letters (G) and (H)
> Ay suggestions? Tricia
> PS what does Convert to Dynamic Disk mean?


Tricia:
Just to confirm what you've related...
In Disk Management your second HD is reflected as drive F:. When you right
click on the graphic of that drive, a sub-menu will open. Are you saying
that the sub-menu reflects *only* those options you have listed, i.e.,
Convert to Dynamic Disk, Properties, and Help? Something is amiss here. When
you right-click on that drive, one of the options listed should be "Change
Drive Letter and Paths..." There should be *no* reference to the Convert to
..... Do you get that Change Drive Letter ... option?

Forget about that Dynamic Disk thing. It's of no relevance in your
situation.
Anna

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

"Tricia" <tricialal2000@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:u3iHyD3OFHA.524@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> Hi I installed a second hard drive in my computer which also has a cd rom
> and dvd writer. It appears in my computer etc as drive (F). I have tried
> changing the drive letter in Administrative Tools/Computer management/Disk
> management but the only options available for that drive are, Convert to
> Dynamic Disk, Properties and Help.
>
> I changed the CD and DVD drive letters to (G) and (H) but I still cannot
get
> the drive changed from (F) to (D). I even removed the optical drives and
the
> second hard disk rebooted the computer, switched it off and reconnected
the
> second hard drive. When the computer had rebooted I still had the second
> drive as (F) Both drives are NTFS formatted. When I reconnected the 2
> optical drives they were also still assigned the drive letters (G) and (H)
> Ay suggestions? Tricia
> PS what does Convert to Dynamic Disk mean?
>
>

The usual reason for being unable to change a drive letter is
that the letter is already taken by another drive, perhaps
below your current field of vision.

If you're sure that this is not the case then you can do it via
the registry editor. Navigate to
HKLM\SYSTEM\MountedDevices, then rename
\DosDevices\F: to DosDevices\D: (press F2). You
must reboot for the change to become effective.

Dynamic disks offer some extra facilities which I do not
think you require. They also have some drawbacks.
Since you cannot convert a dynamic disk back to a
static disk, I recommend you stick to your current static
disk.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

"Anna" <myname@myisp.net> wrote in message
news:uwCCIj7OFHA.1172@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
>
> "Tricia" <tricialal2000@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:u3iHyD3OFHA.524@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
>> Hi I installed a second hard drive in my computer which also has a cd rom
>> and dvd writer. It appears in my computer etc as drive (F). I have tried
>> changing the drive letter in Administrative Tools/Computer
>> management/Disk
>> management but the only options available for that drive are, Convert to
>> Dynamic Disk, Properties and Help.
>>
>> I changed the CD and DVD drive letters to (G) and (H) but I still cannot
>> get the drive changed from (F) to (D). I even removed the optical drives
>> and the second hard disk rebooted the computer, switched it off and
>> reconnected the second hard drive. When the computer had rebooted I still
>> had the second drive as (F) Both drives are NTFS formatted. When I
>> reconnected the 2 optical drives they were also still assigned the drive
>> letters (G) and (H)
>> Ay suggestions? Tricia
>> PS what does Convert to Dynamic Disk mean?
>
>
> Tricia:
> Just to confirm what you've related...
> In Disk Management your second HD is reflected as drive F:. When you right
> click on the graphic of that drive, a sub-menu will open. Are you saying
> that the sub-menu reflects *only* those options you have listed, i.e.,
> Convert to Dynamic Disk, Properties, and Help? Something is amiss here.
> When you right-click on that drive, one of the options listed should be
> "Change Drive Letter and Paths..." There should be *no* reference to the
> Convert to .... Do you get that Change Drive Letter ... option?
>
No, I have altered the registry as already posted but still do not get the
option to change drive letters. However my second drive now shows as drive
D: which is what I wanted

Thanks Tricia

 

[anna]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

"Tricia" <tricialal2000@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:uOezMsCPFHA.2432@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
>
>>
>> "Tricia" <tricialal2000@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
>> news:u3iHyD3OFHA.524@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
>>> Hi I installed a second hard drive in my computer which also has a cd
>>> rom
>>> and dvd writer. It appears in my computer etc as drive (F). I have tried
>>> changing the drive letter in Administrative Tools/Computer
>>> management/Disk
>>> management but the only options available for that drive are, Convert to
>>> Dynamic Disk, Properties and Help.
>>>
>>> I changed the CD and DVD drive letters to (G) and (H) but I still cannot
>>> get the drive changed from (F) to (D). I even removed the optical drives
>>> and the second hard disk rebooted the computer, switched it off and
>>> reconnected the second hard drive. When the computer had rebooted I
>>> still
>>> had the second drive as (F) Both drives are NTFS formatted. When I
>>> reconnected the 2 optical drives they were also still assigned the drive
>>> letters (G) and (H)
>>> Ay suggestions? Tricia
>>> PS what does Convert to Dynamic Disk mean?


> "Anna" <myname@myisp.net> wrote in message
> news:uwCCIj7OFHA.1172@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
>> Tricia:
>> Just to confirm what you've related...
>> In Disk Management your second HD is reflected as drive F:. When you
>> right >> click on the graphic of that drive, a sub-menu will open. Are
>> you saying that the sub-menu reflects *only* those options you have
>> listed, i.e., Convert to Dynamic Disk, Properties, and Help? Something is
>> amiss here. When you right-click on that drive, one of the options listed
>> should be "Change Drive Letter and Paths..." There should be *no*
>> reference to the Convert to .... Do you get that Change Drive Letter ...
>> option?
>>

Tricia responds...
> No, I have altered the registry as already posted but still do not get
> the option to change drive letters. However my second drive now shows as
> drive D: which is what I wanted

> Thanks Tricia


Tricia:
There's simply no need to "alter(ed) the registry" to accomplish your
original objective. It's hard to tell what happened after you made a
registry modification. If there's some way to undo what you did re the
registry change, (perhaps you backed up the original registry before making
the change - that would have been prudent), by all means revert to your
original registry settings.

Simply stated, you use the Disk Management utility to change drive letters
for your optical drives. It's simple and relatively straightforward. In your
situation, your optical drives are designated G: and H: and there's no drive
that has been assigned the D: drive letter. Now you want to change the drive
letter F: that has been assigned to your second drive to D:. There should be
no problem in doing so. So at this point there are four drives connected to
your machine - your booting HD C:, your second drive F:, and your two
optical drives G: & H:. For some unexplained reason no drives are designated
D: or E:

Presumably, all you have to do is right-click on the F: drive graphic in
Disk Management. A sub-menu will open and one of the options should be
"Change Drive Letter and Paths..." Click on that option and you should be
able to change that drive letter from F: to D:
Anna