Installed XP, hard drive became F:

[WillyW]

A friend just called me to inquire about a problem he has encountered.    This is a good friend, and I'd like to be able to help.    And, after he described the situation,  now I'm curious myself.   

OS is WinXP.

He said the computer "crashed"  and they started over.   Installed WinXP.

Computer has a floppy drive,  two CD drives (most likely one is DVD),  one hard drive, and a Zip drive.     Zip drive is IDE.

There is only one partition on the hard drive.

He says everything works fine.

But,   WinXP is on F: .      The Zip drive is C:  .
Other drives are labeled normally.    A:, D:, and E: .


They would like to get it back to the way it was originally.    Hard drive being 
C: ,  and Zip drive being  F: .


My initial gut feeling is to start over.   But before installing WinXP this time,  remove - disconnect the ribbon cable -  the Zip drive.     

He is really hoping to not have to do that.     This is not a hobby/home computer.   It is used for business,  so already it has quite a bit of software re-loaded, and records accumulated.          It could be done,  but it is a chore.
Therefore,  I don't want to go with a gut feeling.   
I'd like to be sure of:      What caused it, so we can learn something.        And:   To be sure that my idea will work.   Wouldn't be fun to do it,  then have one of the CD drives become C: !   

That's the first questions:     Will my idea work?     and what caused it?
   

Next question:    Is it possible to re-assign those drive letters without having to re-install WinXP?
With Google, I found several pages to read about this.   Apparently it is a common occurence.    One page even specifically mentioned that a Zip drive often causes it.      However,  the proposed solutions were all over the place, sometimes direct contradictions.    Thus.....  here I am here.   

I would really like to explore this possibility in depth first.    Apparently,  it is not just a simple re-assignment within WinXP disk manager,   since the boot drive is involved.

Tried the search engine here in the forums.   Maybe I wasn't creative enough with search terms....   no luck finding previous discussion on this topic.

Looking forward to hearing about your experiences with this.
Thanks.

[contrex]

To change drive letters

Open up the run dialog from the start button or by pressing the Windows key and R at the same time and paste in the following:

%SystemRoot%\system32\compmgmt.msc /s

Click OK

Select Disk Management. Then right click on drive C (The Zip drive) and change the
drive letter to a free letter (for example Z). Then letter C will be free and you can assign it to the hard drive (currently drive F).

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[WillyW]

...
 Then letter C will be free and you can assign it to the hard drive (currently drive F).
...

Have you experience with doing this with the boot drive?

[contrex]

yes, only the letter changes. The system knows the drives by numbers internally.

[patio]

...
 Then letter C will be free and you can assign it to the hard drive (currently drive F).
...

Have you experience with doing this with the boot drive?

I was just wondering the very same thing...

[WillyW]

yes, only the letter changes. The system knows the drives by numbers internally.

I have found some sites that say that it can be done this way,  and some that say it cannot.....  for example:   http://www.tweakxp.com/article36890.aspx

Are you saying that the statement in   "Notes:"  at the bottom, below step 11,  is incorrect?


I've found some sites that go into detail,  that the only way to do it involves editing the registry.


Basically,  by using this forum,  I'm hoping to get to the bottom of it, and find the correct, reliable method.    And eliminate confusion.


Thanks

[WillyW]

...
 Then letter C will be free and you can assign it to the hard drive (currently drive F).
...

Have you experience with doing this with the boot drive?

I was just wondering the very same thing...

Patio:    You wouldn't happen to have a spare XP machine laying around -  just for experimenting and tests -    would you?     

[patio]

Not until midday tomorrow...of course it doesn't have a Zip drive installed but i was going to suggest the user dis-connect it for this procedure anyways.
I seem to remember that since NT that Windows doesn't allow C: to be re-assigned.

My test machine has multiple drives on it and everything is imaged so i'll be able to replicate the symptoms somewhat but again it won't be til tomorrow..

[WillyW]

Not until midday tomorrow...of course it doesn't have a Zip drive installed but i was going to suggest the user dis-connect it for this procedure anyways.

That was my initial feeling.  If it comes down to having to re-install.
First choice is to avoid that.

I seem to remember that since NT that Windows doesn't allow C: to be re-assigned.

My test machine has multiple drives on it and everything is imaged so i'll be able to replicate the symptoms somewhat but again it won't be til tomorrow..

Fantastic!
I'm reading that as you are willing to do that for me.         If you have time to fiddle around with this tomorrow,   that would be great!
Thanks

 

[WillyW]

...

My test machine has multiple drives on it and everything is imaged so i'll be able to replicate the symptoms somewhat but again it won't be til tomorrow..

If you, or anyone else,  would like to see some of the stuff I've found, and a couple of the procedures described,   here is a list of urls:


This one is interesting.    Any thoughts or comments on it?
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Hard-Drive-Problems-2113/Rename-hard-drive-Windows.htm


This one describes the Disk Management method within XP,  and ends with,
"You can not change the drive letter of your boot or system drive this way."
http://www.tweakxp.com/article36890.aspx


This one describes the same problem my pal has.  They even mention a Zip drive in a reply.    And it reenforces my intial thought.
http://www.pcreview.co.uk/forums/thread-489718.php


This source ought to be the one to use.   But I'm not sure the problem is the same as what we have.    The very first line is confusing to me.
"Warning Do not use the procedure that is described in this article to change a drive on a computer where the drive letter has not changed."
Changed when?  how?     during a reinstall?   or just magically? 
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q223188
I am leery to follow these instructions until I hear from some of the gurus here.



This one flat out says,  "Windows will let you know if the drive letter cannot be changed for some reason."   when using the Disk Management method.
Then it details the registry method, and does not specifically say that you cannot do it this way for the boot drive.        Again, I'm leery of it until I hear more.
Then there is much discussion.
http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/article02-024

http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/1117713258

This one involves using "upgrade" and XP setup.   anda "KB" article.    What's a "KB" article....?
http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/r1051759991



Disk Management method, and also says,
"You should not change drives containing system information..."
It doesn't say you can't,  just shouldn't.
http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/506/vista_xp_reassign_change_drive_letters


And this one says to reinstall.
http://ask-leo.com/can_i_reassign_my_drive_letters.html



With this variety of things I've read elsewhere,  I thought it best to find out from some of the folks here,  if any of these methods work... or which is correct/best.


   

[patio]

Willy,

I was unable to make this change in Win2K SP4 / WinXP SP2 or Vista RC2...

Since it is where system files reside i believe that for a change  Windows is smart enough to not allow this to happen...

I would suggest to your friend that he needs to re-install XP unfortunately...when he does do this he should only have his master HDD, a CDRom and a floppy ( if applicable ) hooked up.
After the install is complete he can then introduce his other drives including the Zip.

I suggest adding only one device at a time with a few cold boots between each one.

patio. 

[WillyW]

Patio:   First -  thanks for taking time to experiment.

I was unable to make this change in Win2K SP4 / WinXP SP2 or Vista RC2...

By which method(s)?

And...   specifically...   did you happen to try this one? :
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Hard-Drive-Problems-2113/Rename-hard-drive-Windows.htm

Since it is where system files reside i believe that for a change  Windows is smart enough to not allow this to happen...

I would suggest to your friend that he needs to re-install XP unfortunately...

I expect this to be the solution... would just like to exhaust the other one - registry edit method - first.    One last hope.....

when he does do this he should only have his master HDD, a CDRom and a floppy ( if applicable ) hooked up.
After the install is complete he can then introduce his other drives including the Zip.

I suggest adding only one device at a time with a few cold boots between each one.
 

He has two CD drives.   I see you are specifically excluding one during install.
Is that just to be on the safe side?
Or is it a known thing ...  a  no-no   to have two connected during XP install?


Lastly,   why more than one cold boot between connecting each device?    That's interesting.    You've made me curious.


Thank you

[GX1_Man]

A re-install is the biggest favor you can do your friend. Back up any data needed first and format the drive during the install.

[WillyW]

A re-install is the biggest favor you can do your friend. Back up any data needed first and format the drive during the install.

That is what I suspect too.   But I still would like to exhaust the other possibility by hearing from someone that knows.

I'm glad to see you found this thread.   

Have you ever heard of this problem before or had it happen to you?


I'm surprised that I haven't found it a few times in old posts.

[GX1_Man]

Re-mapping a boot drive is never a good idea. Too many things to go wrong. I would not be even interested enough to try it.

Removing the data cable to the Zip drive is a great idea for the reinstall.