Any idea how to change the drive letter of the boot volume?

[acemcmac]

This PC I just formatted has a zip drive which somehow got C and the boot volume is listed as E. Anyone know how to switch them? Windows says I can't change the boot volume....

 

[BadThad]

Originally posted by: acemcmac
This PC I just formatted has a zip drive which somehow got C and the boot volume is listed as E. Anyone know how to switch them? Windows says I can't change the boot volume....

Reinstall windows.

 

[Smilin]

If windows switches drive letters after installation, easy to fix. If it has the wrong drive letter DURING install then every reference is gonna be broken.

The easy part:
Remove the drive that stole C: from the machine. Wipe your mounteddevices key (clear everything except the default entry) then reboot. It will rebuild and sort things out.

The hard part:
Every f'n registry entry in Windows still points to the wrong drive. You'll need to correct this. The first one you'll need to correct is the location where Winlogon looks for userinit.exe. You'll need to fix this first since you are now getting a logon screen loop when you try to log on. (fixing it before the reboot might be a good idea )

I guess what I'm saying is yes, this can be done (I could probably do it) but since you just finished installing and haven't really "moved in" yet I would recommend starting over now with a reload.

 

[talyn00]

Originally posted by: Smilin
If windows switches drive letters after installation, easy to fix. If it has the wrong drive letter DURING install then every reference is gonna be broken.

The easy part:
Remove the drive that stole C: from the machine. Wipe your mounteddevices key (clear everything except the default entry) then reboot. It will rebuild and sort things out.

The hard part:
Every f'n registry entry in Windows still points to the wrong drive. You'll need to correct this. The first one you'll need to correct is the location where Winlogon looks for userinit.exe. You'll need to fix this first since you are now getting a logon screen loop when you try to log on. (fixing it before the reboot might be a good idea )

I guess what I'm saying is yes, this can be done (I could probably do it) but since you just finished installing and haven't really "moved in" yet I would recommend starting over now with a reload.

well considering he said he just formatted, it might just be faster to format and install again. Just make sure to remove all other drives except the boot volume.

 

[WildHorse]

Start \ right click on My Computer \ Manage \ left click Disk Management to select it \ now right click Disk Management \ All Tasks \ Change Drive Letter and Path

That ought to get 'er done for ya

 

[Pirotech]

You can do it using partition manager software.
I use Disk Director: Rt click on the drive that will be shown in this application- Advanced - Change letter.
But you will have to change your C: drive letter to any not used one (K: for example), then change from E: to C: and from K: to E:
And will receive what you want.

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: scott
Start \ right click on My Computer \ Manage \ left click Disk Management to select it \ now right click Disk Management \ All Tasks \ Change Drive Letter and Path

That ought to get 'er done for ya

Unfortunately it won't let you do this with boot volume . Kudos for coming in to help someone though. :thumbsup:

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: Pirotech
You can do it using partition manager software.
I use Disk Director: Rt click on the drive that will be shown in this application- Advanced - Change letter.
But you will have to change your C: drive letter to any not used one (K: for example), then change from E: to C: and from K: to E:
And will receive what you want.

mmm, please don't do this.

 

[Pirotech]

mmm, please don't do this.

Why?
I understand that switching of boot drive letter is known to be a risky operation. But if the only alternative is drive formatting I think it's possible to try..

 

[networkman]

It'd be nice if the OP mentioned WHICH Windows operating system had been installed! :roll:

At least for Windows 2000, you cannot change the drive letter of the boot volume, as referenced HERE

*Edit: A little more searching and I find a document that is EXACTLY on point HERE

The system partition may be assigned a drive letter other than the one that you expect when you install Windows XP

SYMPTOMS
When you install or upgrade to Microsoft Windows XP, the system partition may be assigned a drive letter other than the one that you expect. For example, the system partition may be assigned a drive letter other than C.

The system partition contains the Ntldr, Boot.ini, and Ntdetect.com files.

CAUSE
This problem may occur if a Zip drive is connected to the computer when you install Windows XP. The problem occurs when the computer detects the Zip drive as a hard disk.

RESOLUTION
To resolve this problem, disconnect the Zip drive from the computer. Then, reinstall Windows XP.

STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

APPLIES TO
? Microsoft Windows XP Professional
? Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

Truly, the Microsoft Knowledge Base can be your friend.

 

[TheSophist]

I hope you understand that there is a reason why the boot volume's drive letter is hard to change..... The developers had a reason for that. There is a whole host of problems that could happen.

I have to agree with smilin on this. It is possible to change the boot volume's drive letter, but you probably don't want to do that. Save yourself the trouble and reformat/reinstall.



TheSophist

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: Pirotech

mmm, please don't do this.

Why?
I understand that switching of boot drive letter is known to be a risky operation. But if the only alternative is drive formatting I think it's possible to try..

The #1 reason why NOT to do this is:

1. If it is not successful you may not immediately know it.

You start bug checking someday because a service gets enabled that has a wrong drive letter and you will go insane trying to troubleshoot it and possibly never realize it was caused by a mistake made when the machine was first built.

Don't introduce potential problems the first day of a new machine build. Do it right the first time.

 

[cubby1223]

If you're having troubles getting the hard drive to pick up a specific letter, then use either a win98 cd or a dos boot disk to put a fat32 partition on the hard drive. Then reboot with the XP install cd, the partition will have taken drive letter C:, and during setup just reformat the drive with ntfs.

 

[WildHorse]

According to Microsoft Knowledge Base article 223188, this is how to change the drive letter of the system drive:

Change the System/Boot Drive Letter
Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.
1. Make a full system backup of the computer and system state.
2. Log on as an Administrator.
3. Start Regedt32.exe.
4. Go to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices
5. Click MountedDevices.
6. On the Security menu, click Permissions.
7. Verify that Administrators have full control. Change this back when you are finished with these steps.
8. Quit Regedt32.exe, and then start Regedit.exe.
9. Locate the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices
10. Find the drive letter you want to change to (new). Look for "\DosDevices\C:".
11. Right-click \DosDevices\C:, and then click Rename.

Note You must use Regedit instead of Regedt32 to rename this registry key.
12. Rename it to an unused drive letter "\DosDevices\Z:".

This frees up drive letter C.
13. Find the drive letter you want changed. Look for "\DosDevices\D:".
14. Right-click \DosDevices\D:, and then click Rename.
15. Rename it to the appropriate (new) drive letter "\DosDevices\C:".
16. Click the value for \DosDevices\Z:, click Rename, and then name it back to "\DosDevices\D:".
17. Quit Regedit, and then start Regedt32.
18. Change the permissions back to the previous setting for Administrators (this should probably be Read Only).
19. Restart the computer.

The Horse's Mouth

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: scott
According to Microsoft Knowledge Base article 223188, this is how to change the drive letter of the system drive:

Change the System/Boot Drive Letter
Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.
1. Make a full system backup of the computer and system state.
2. Log on as an Administrator.
3. Start Regedt32.exe.
4. Go to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices
5. Click MountedDevices.
6. On the Security menu, click Permissions.
7. Verify that Administrators have full control. Change this back when you are finished with these steps.
8. Quit Regedt32.exe, and then start Regedit.exe.
9. Locate the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices
10. Find the drive letter you want to change to (new). Look for "\DosDevices\C:".
11. Right-click \DosDevices\C:, and then click Rename.

Note You must use Regedit instead of Regedt32 to rename this registry key.
12. Rename it to an unused drive letter "\DosDevices\Z:".

This frees up drive letter C.
13. Find the drive letter you want changed. Look for "\DosDevices\D:".
14. Right-click \DosDevices\D:, and then click Rename.
15. Rename it to the appropriate (new) drive letter "\DosDevices\C:".
16. Click the value for \DosDevices\Z:, click Rename, and then name it back to "\DosDevices\D:".
17. Quit Regedit, and then start Regedt32.
18. Change the permissions back to the previous setting for Administrators (this should probably be Read Only).
19. Restart the computer.

The Horse's Mouth

If you are going to quote the horse's mouth please quote it in full context so you don't lead others to make a mistake that they may not be able to recover from. :|

This procedure is meant to FIX a shifted drive letter, not shift one. The procedure assumes that the drive letters everywhere in the registry are correct and that a new letter was assigned to mounteddevices.

Bad advice! Don't try to change boot drive letter after installation!

The part you failed to quote:
"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. If you do so, you may not be able to start your operating system. Follow the procedure that is described in this article only to recover from a drive letter change, not to change an existing computer drive to something else. Back up your registry keys before you make this change.
"

 

[RebateMonger]

My advice:

1) Live with the drive letter configuration
or
2) Reinstall Windows

Luckily, this is the sort of mistake that you make only once (or twice)

 

[WildHorse]

Originally posted by: Smilin

If you are going to quote the horse's mouth please quote it in full context so you don't lead others to make a mistake that they may not be able to recover from. :|

This procedure is meant to FIX a shifted drive letter, not shift one. The procedure assumes that the drive letters everywhere in the registry are correct and that a new letter was assigned to mounteddevices.

Bad advice! Don't try to change boot drive letter after installation!

The part you failed to quote:
"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. If you do so, you may not be able to start your operating system. Follow the procedure that is described in this article only to recover from a drive letter change, not to change an existing computer drive to something else. Back up your registry keys before you make this change.
"

I be bad?

 

[networkman]

My first post was on target and I even linked to the Knowledge Base article. There's no point in discussing this further; it's too bad if you don't like the answer, get over it. :roll:

 

[WildHorse]

Originally posted by: networkman
My first post was on target and I even linked to the Knowledge Base article. There's no point in discussing this further; it's too bad if you don't like the answer, get over it. :roll:

networkman:

In future, , please,
a little less caffine for you.