Help!!Drive Letter Assignments on Windows XP

milpool · 03-21-04, 03:33 PM

I took out my old hard drive and installed a new HD. At the same time I did a brand new install of Windows XP OS. Now my HD is the "F" drive and this is causing problems when installing drivers etc. XP says I cannot change the drive letter assignment on the "boot" drive. The floppy remained as the "A " and my CDRW and DVDROM are "D" and "E" respectively.

Help me get a "C" drive letter designation back to my HD!!

Thanks!~

stevevt · 03-21-04, 03:48 PM

Did you look at the jumpers on the back of the hard drive before you installed it?

milpool · 03-21-04, 03:56 PM

I had the jumper set to Master..I just changed it to Cable Select but it still show up as the F drive

stevevt · 03-21-04, 04:32 PM

Master sounds right.

What about the jumpers on the other devices?

Also, what is drive C right now?

Have you poked around in the BIOS?

milpool · 03-21-04, 04:53 PM

Prior to the new install, the old HD = C, CDRW=D and DVD = E

There is no C drive anymore. Floppy = A, CDRW now = D, DVD now =E and new HD = F.

I poked around in BIOS and tried swapping different cables. When I put the old HD back in by itself, it becoames drive C...when I put in new HD (master) along with old HD (slave) the old HD= C and the new HD still = F.

stevevt · 03-21-04, 05:04 PM

Is it possible that now that you've installed the OS on the HD when it was drive F it's always going to want to stay that way?

Last week, I had the same problem that you're describing (although I'm using Win2K), but I just decided to fix the jumpers (master for the new HD, slave for the old one) and reinstall the OS.

The other thing to look at is to try the cable select setting on the old hard drive, but I'm not thinking that's gonna change much.

I hope the more experienced members don't look at this thread and assume everything's under control, because I'm fresh out of ideas, and didn't have too many to begin with.

twikoff · 03-21-04, 06:32 PM

yea
jumper isnt going to change the drive letter

you could use the port mapper thats included on the partition magic..
but really, if windows is installed on F.. and the registry thinks its there.. your pretty much stuck

the only real problem is that most applications by default want to install to C.. which is not there..
so you could repartition your F drive and remove some of the space and make a C partition.. and use that as an application install and data drive.. and just keep your windows system install on F

or if you dont mind formatting..

start with a bootdisk and go into fdisk and let us know what you see.. something was holding that c partition when you created

03-21-04, 03:33 PM	#1
milpool Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Posts: 786	Help!!Drive Letter Assignments on Windows XP I took out my old hard drive and installed a new HD. At the same time I did a brand new install of Windows XP OS. Now my HD is the "F" drive and this is causing problems when installing drivers etc. XP says I cannot change the drive letter assignment on the "boot" drive. The floppy remained as the "A " and my CDRW and DVDROM are "D" and "E" respectively. Help me get a "C" drive letter designation back to my HD!! Thanks!~

03-21-04, 06:32 PM	#7
twikoff DVD Talk God Join Date: Feb 2000 Location: Right Behind You!!! Posts: 79,341	yea jumper isnt going to change the drive letter you could use the port mapper thats included on the partition magic.. but really, if windows is installed on F.. and the registry thinks its there.. your pretty much stuck the only real problem is that most applications by default want to install to C.. which is not there.. so you could repartition your F drive and remove some of the space and make a C partition.. and use that as an application install and data drive.. and just keep your windows system install on F or if you dont mind formatting.. start with a bootdisk and go into fdisk and let us know what you see.. something was holding that c partition when you created __________________ Do you live in Idaho or Wyoming? If so, its time to Check In!

03-21-04, 03:48 PM	#2
stevevt DVD Talk Hall of Fame Join Date: Nov 1999 Location: Vermont Posts: 9,500	Did you look at the jumpers on the back of the hard drive before you installed it?

03-21-04, 03:56 PM	#3
milpool Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Posts: 786	I had the jumper set to Master..I just changed it to Cable Select but it still show up as the F drive

03-21-04, 04:32 PM	#4
stevevt DVD Talk Hall of Fame Join Date: Nov 1999 Location: Vermont Posts: 9,500	Master sounds right. What about the jumpers on the other devices? Also, what is drive C right now? Have you poked around in the BIOS?

03-21-04, 04:53 PM	#5
milpool Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Posts: 786	Prior to the new install, the old HD = C, CDRW=D and DVD = E There is no C drive anymore. Floppy = A, CDRW now = D, DVD now =E and new HD = F. I poked around in BIOS and tried swapping different cables. When I put the old HD back in by itself, it becoames drive C...when I put in new HD (master) along with old HD (slave) the old HD= C and the new HD still = F.

03-21-04, 05:04 PM	#6
stevevt DVD Talk Hall of Fame Join Date: Nov 1999 Location: Vermont Posts: 9,500	Is it possible that now that you've installed the OS on the HD when it was drive F it's always going to want to stay that way? Last week, I had the same problem that you're describing (although I'm using Win2K), but I just decided to fix the jumpers (master for the new HD, slave for the old one) and reinstall the OS. The other thing to look at is to try the cable select setting on the old hard drive, but I'm not thinking that's gonna change much. I hope the more experienced members don't look at this thread and assume everything's under control, because I'm fresh out of ideas, and didn't have too many to begin with.