Hi, I recently reinstalled windows xp, but unfortunately never thought to disconnect my other drives first - didn't think I had to. Now my drive letters have all changed and are all over the place. eg: I have an internal drive with 3 partitions which used to be d;e &f but are now e;i &j. Another internal drive divided into 4 partitions is now d;f;g&h instead of m,n,o&p. Every time I go to save something I have to check which drive is which in computer management before I save anything in case it is saved on the wrong drive. An external drive I have is lettered consecutively but with the wrong letters which results in searching those drives first again before saving. This is really a bind if I'm saving one file at a time - takes ages.
I was trying to change the letters back to what they were in disk management but I get a message saying 'changing the drive letter of a volume might cause programmes to no longer run. Are you sure you want to change this drive letter'.
My question is can I change these letters or will my files no longer open/work properly. A lot of them are music files and I don't want to lose them as they are mostly irreplaceable these days.
Thanks for reading and in advance for any help offered.
hedley
I would shut down, remove all the externals, reboot and see what happens. Correct in Disc Management as necessary, reboot. Then add externals, one at a time.
I warn that for every minute the computer is used with the letters shifted, the harder it will be to sort it all out, short of a another reinstall, with just the correct drives connected.
If one of your programs or music files is affected, it simply means the Windows registry cannot find the file(s) where it expects it to be. For your music file just look on the new music drive. For a program with several files, a program repair or install over existing (shifted) location usually fixes the Registry without losing data - usually. No promises.
If the boot drive did not get a new letter (usually C) Windows itself should be fine.
A suggestion that really helps me. I label my drives like this:
C: HP_C
D: HP_D
E: HP_D
etc.
That way, when they get scrambled, which they do every time I reinstall XP, it's very easy to get the correct drive letter assigned to the right partition or drive.
As long as you haven't installed software on the drives while they have the wrong drive letter assigned, changing the letter will not cause any problem.
The above labeling also helps when I'm sharing data between my computers.
Hi, thanks for the replies. All my programmes are installed on the c drive which wasn't relettered. It is only files & folders I have on the other drives, so is it possible then to just rename the drives in disk management.? No programmesas such would be affected with them being on the c drive?
Thanks again for the help
hedley
Changing the drive letters back to what they were is perfectly safe with disk management, I have been doing it since windows xp first came out. It's also prefered and reccomended to name them.
Changing the drive letters back to what they were is perfectly safe with disk management
Most of the time. Again, it will affect any new programs that were installed on the shifted drives. But again, the files will still be there for you to find by navigating and drilling down through Windows Explorer.
It's also prefered and reccomended to name them.
Oh? I have never seen that. Naming the drive volumes is simply a convenience for the user, the computer or Windows do not care what the name is - if you don't rename it, Windows will use its defaults and be just as happy. I have never seen anywhere where it is recommended you rename the drives for any reason other than user convenience. If you have a link that says otherwise, please provide.
That said, I rename my hard drives and partitions - but thats only so I can easily remember where I want to save something. And I always, as soon as possible after the OS install, and BEFORE I start loading up my programs, re-letter my CD Drive to Q drive, and my DVD to V drive - in this way, I can add and remove memory sticks, cameras, etc. without my CD or DVD drive letters shifting. This is somewhat important because some programs, including Windows, remember the source location of their installation files, and store that information in the Registry and probably elsewhere too. In the case of Office, for example, if you want to add a feature not installed during the initial installation, Office will prompt for the install disk in the drive with the drive letter Office was installed from. Fairly easy to correct, but an annoyance if Office keeps suggesting the wrong drive.
Hi, thanks for the replies. So, in disk management at the moment there are only the higher letters left: Q-Z. Do I rename the drives with these letters first as the others are in use and then change them again to the lower letters after that?
As I've said, there are no programmes installed on any of these drives. Changing your cd & dvd drive letters at the start was a smart move. Wouldn't have thought of that.
Thanks again for the help.
hedley
So, in disk management at the moment there are only the higher letters left: Q-Z.
A = 3.5 in floppy and B = 5.25 in floppy so we won't count them.
But C thru P = 14 drives !!! Do you really have that many drives/partitions/removable devices?
As far as moving up then back, that just depends what, if anything, is in the final spot you want your drives. I generally do not re-letter removable devices.
Hi, thanks for the reply. Yes, I really do have that many. 4 internals - c; p; e,i,j; d,f,g,h; & 2 usb's l, m,n,o. and as you say, a=floppy, not using b; k=cd/dvd drive. That's them as they are lettered now. They were lettered: c; d,e,f; g was the cd/dvd drive; h was the first usb; i,j,k,l were the second usb and m,n,o,p were the 3rd internal. These were the order they were installed in as they were bought. When I reinstalled windows this time I decided I would only put windows & programmes on c; drive, so I was bought another drive for my other files, namely p and as you say a=floppy, don't use b and k is now my cd/dvd drive.
As long as I can put them back into their original letters it would be okay, except I couldn't reletter the cd/dvd as it was pointed out that the software/os discs would look for the disks on the letter they were installed on.
Thanks again for the help.
hedley
Wow, that's a lot. I have never seen anyone who actually used that many removable devices as full time active drives - Do you use them all, all of the time?
3rd internal
Internal what? Are storage devices connected to these 4?
Hi, now you know why I wanted them back to their original lettering! The internals I referred to are internal drives, 1x500gb partioned into 4, 1x120 partitioned in 3 and 2 just as ordinary drives. I have a lot of music files on my pc and they are filed in different partitions to differentiate the music and that is the way I had them labelled - data, music etc. Now I'll have to start from scratch again making sure the right labels are on the right drives/partitions.
Thanks for all the help.
hedley.
Hi, didn't reinstall, if that's what you mean - just crossed my fingers, toes and anything else that was available, went into disk management and changed them back to what they were and hoped for the best. Thankfully, it worked out okay, any files or folders I've tried so far, which is quite a few, all open and work okay. I dare say I would have looked like this if it hadn't worked out right.
Next time, I'll know to disconnect all my other drives before I reinstall!!
Thanks again for all the help.
hedley
if it hadn't worked out right.
Next time, I'll know to disconnect all my other drives before I reinstall!!
Thanks again for all the help.
hedley