Need To Change Drive Letters

To Wesley:

Nothing helpful here as far I can see

Even the command line Diskpart utility is not capable of changing the drive
letter of a system, boot or page file drive/partition

Look at the following link for a discussion of Diskpart

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/300415/

Thanks for your suggestion

You do realize that changing the drive letter of the boot drive/partition
will render your system unbootable, don't you?

You cannot change the boot drive with any utility.

Bobby

"Howard" <Howard.RemoveThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:B36B5B08-0706-4B73-84DA-9CC2F29BA02E@microsoft.com...
> To Wesley:
>
> Nothing helpful here as far I can see
>
> Even the command line Diskpart utility is not capable of changing the
> drive
> letter of a system, boot or page file drive/partition
>
> Look at the following link for a discussion of Diskpart
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/300415/
>
> Thanks for your suggestion

Is there someplace in the Registry that you might be able to change drive
letters so that when the computer reboots it will take on a new assigned
drive letter ???

Just guessing ???

I have three primary partitions and one extended partition - all three
primary partitions are Windows XP C drive images - all bootable using a
multiboot boot.ini file

Depending on the C drive image and how the C drive image is installed on
each partition - effects whether or not the booted partition takes the
customary drive letter C or some other drive letter when the selected
partition is booted

After several months of working on this - there is only one specific problem
that I have not been able to solve - when I try to restore a C drive image to
a non C drive partition using ghost 9.0 from an image stored on a CD/DVD
disk(s), the restored drive fails to take on the drive letter of C when it is
booted - no problem noted when the restored drive is the actual C drive

No problems noted at all when the restored images are taken from hard drives
- the other two non C drives will take on the drive letter of C when they are
booted

The advantage of having each bootable partition booted with the Drive letter
C is that you only have to have one set of images instead of seperate sets of
images for each bootable drive letter!!

This doesn't apply to system or boot volumes, disk management will not
change these

"Wesley Vogel" <123WVogel955.DeleteThis@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:O0R5$UajFHA.320@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> Scroll down to Troubleshooting here...
> How to change drive letter assignments in Windows XP
> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q307844
>
> --
> Hope this helps. Let us know.
>
> Wes
> MS-MVP Windows Shell/User
>
> In news:67A1562F-71F3-49E7-BE67-D75368B0849E@microsoft.com,
> Howard <Howard.DeleteThis@discussions.microsoft.com> hunted and pecked:
>> Windows Disk Management tools only allows the user to change the drive
>> letters of non-system, non active & non bootable drives/partitions on a
>> hard drive
>>
>> QUESTION: Is there some third party DOS utility/tweak that will allow
>> the
>> user to change the drive letter of a Windows System, Active or Boot
>> drive/partition ????
>>
>> Thanks in advance for your replys
>

Yeah, I missed that. I was thinking active/non active. ;-(

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In news:%23CB1QdajFHA.3756@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl,
John E. Carty <jecarty.RemoveThis@NOSPAM.hotmail.com> hunted and pecked:
> This doesn't apply to system or boot volumes, disk management will not
> change these
>
> "Wesley Vogel" <123WVogel955.RemoveThis@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:O0R5$UajFHA.320@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
>> Scroll down to Troubleshooting here...
>> How to change drive letter assignments in Windows XP
>> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q307844
>>
>> --
>> Hope this helps. Let us know.
>>
>> Wes
>> MS-MVP Windows Shell/User
>>
>> In news:67A1562F-71F3-49E7-BE67-D75368B0849E@microsoft.com,
>> Howard <Howard.RemoveThis@discussions.microsoft.com> hunted and pecked:
>>> Windows Disk Management tools only allows the user to change the drive
>>> letters of non-system, non active & non bootable drives/partitions on a
>>> hard drive
>>>
>>> QUESTION: Is there some third party DOS utility/tweak that will allow
>>> the
>>> user to change the drive letter of a Windows System, Active or Boot
>>> drive/partition ????
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance for your replys

There is. Read:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;223188#top
I advise you not to use the info to change any drive letters, but I am
providing the link simply to answer your question.

"Howard" <Howard.DeleteThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:D78321C9-9F88-42F4-A438-29D72E86DFE3@microsoft.com...
> Is there someplace in the Registry that you might be able to change drive
> letters so that when the computer reboots it will take on a new assigned
> drive letter ???
>
> Just guessing ???

Hi,

Simply put, you cannot change the drive letter assigned to the system
partition. The article Colin posts is only for someone who needs to restore
the original drive letter assignment due to some attempt to change the
original through disk management, it is not meant for someone trying to
change it permanently from the original. There is no way that you can
possibly change the tens of thousands of pointers in the registry and system
files. You are stuck with the assigned drive letter, the only way around is
to start with a clean system.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

"Howard" <Howard RemoveThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:67A1562F-71F3-49E7-BE67-D75368B0849E@microsoft.com...
> Windows Disk Management tools only allows the user to change the drive
> letters of non-system, non active & non bootable drives/partitions on a
> hard
> drive
>
> QUESTION: Is there some third party DOS utility/tweak that will allow the
> user to change the drive letter of a Windows System, Active or Boot
> drive/partition ????
>
> Thanks in advance for your replys

This is the solution that I have been looking for - solves the problem very
easily - I really don't understand why Microsoft doesn't include more fixes
like this when they program Windows to start off with. I know they are
concerned with users who are not very experienced - why can't they simply
include a couple of more warning screens rather than make the user search and
read for hours and days until the user hopefully finds the right fix !!

Microsoft needs to update their article on this fix - certain statements are
incorrect and/or not applicable - the article link follows

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;223188#top

Again, many thanks for your helpful reply !!

"Colin Barnhorst" wrote:

> There is. Read:
> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;223188#top
> I advise you not to use the info to change any drive letters, but I am
> providing the link simply to answer your question.
>
> "Howard" <Howard RemoveThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:D78321C9-9F88-42F4-A438-29D72E86DFE3@microsoft.com...
> > Is there someplace in the Registry that you might be able to change drive
> > letters so that when the computer reboots it will take on a new assigned
> > drive letter ???
> >
> > Just guessing ???
>
>
>

And what about the boot.ini file for each partition?

It is different for each primary partition (1,2 or 3).

--
Just my 2¢ worth,
Jeff
__________in response to__________

"Howard" <Howard.TakeThisOut@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:F3797FD3-FCCC-4DA9-B3FB-F97D1E032ECA@microsoft.com...
|I have three primary partitions and one extended partition - all three
| primary partitions are Windows XP C drive images - all bootable using a
| multiboot boot.ini file
|
| Depending on the C drive image and how the C drive image is installed on
| each partition - effects whether or not the booted partition takes the
| customary drive letter C or some other drive letter when the selected
| partition is booted
|
| After several months of working on this - there is only one specific problem
| that I have not been able to solve - when I try to restore a C drive image to
| a non C drive partition using ghost 9.0 from an image stored on a CD/DVD
| disk(s), the restored drive fails to take on the drive letter of C when it is
| booted - no problem noted when the restored drive is the actual C drive
|
| No problems noted at all when the restored images are taken from hard drives
| - the other two non C drives will take on the drive letter of C when they are
| booted
|
| The advantage of having each bootable partition booted with the Drive letter
| C is that you only have to have one set of images instead of seperate sets of
| images for each bootable drive letter!!

to mrtee

(1) The boot.ini file can be the same on all three primary partitions or
they can be different
(2) Windows system files are also included on all three primary partitions
(3) The exact boot.ini file which is used during bootup is determined by
which partition you make active
(4) The extended partition with one or more logical partitions are used
for data purposes

You can easily switch boot menus by having different boot menus for each
partition and then selecting your desired boot menu by switching which
partition is the active partition - simply a lot of different options
available - for example - you can semi hide a bootable partition (make it
more difficult for someone else to boot) by simply not including it on one of
the boot menus - they may not know how to change one active partition to
another - hopefully, they won't know how to change a boot.ini file either -
the only clue they will have is if they happen to browse the partition and
see a WINDOWS folder in it and figure out that said partition is probably a
bootable partition !!

"» mrtee «" wrote:

> And what about the boot.ini file for each partition?
>
> It is different for each primary partition (1,2 or 3).
>
> --
> Just my 2¢ worth,
> Jeff
>

I know. The article is very clear, provided he reads it. He wasn't
listening to us up to now, and his response didn't sound any more promising.
I suspect he will just have to find out the hard way. I hope not, but....

"Rick "Nutcase" Rogers" <rick RemoveThis @mvps.org> wrote in message
news:O4bM67djFHA.3756@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
> Hi,
>
> Simply put, you cannot change the drive letter assigned to the system
> partition. The article Colin posts is only for someone who needs to
> restore the original drive letter assignment due to some attempt to change
> the original through disk management, it is not meant for someone trying
> to change it permanently from the original. There is no way that you can
> possibly change the tens of thousands of pointers in the registry and
> system files. You are stuck with the assigned drive letter, the only way
> around is to start with a clean system.
>
> --
> Best of Luck,
>
> Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
> Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone
> www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
> Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
>
> "Howard" <Howard RemoveThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:67A1562F-71F3-49E7-BE67-D75368B0849E@microsoft.com...
>> Windows Disk Management tools only allows the user to change the drive
>> letters of non-system, non active & non bootable drives/partitions on a
>> hard
>> drive
>>
>> QUESTION: Is there some third party DOS utility/tweak that will allow
>> the
>> user to change the drive letter of a Windows System, Active or Boot
>> drive/partition ????
>>
>> Thanks in advance for your replys
>
>

I suspect your assessment is correct - blind to all but what he wants to
see. I knew you only posted the article as it answered the question, Colin,
but wanted to add the warning.

Hope to meet you in Sept.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

"Colin Barnhorst" <colinbarharst DeleteThis @msn.com> wrote in message
news:OrSqlrojFHA.3568@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
>I know. The article is very clear, provided he reads it. He wasn't
>listening to us up to now, and his response didn't sound any more
>promising. I suspect he will just have to find out the hard way. I hope
>not, but....
>
> "Rick "Nutcase" Rogers" <rick DeleteThis @mvps.org> wrote in message
> news:O4bM67djFHA.3756@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
>> Hi,
>>
>> Simply put, you cannot change the drive letter assigned to the system
>> partition. The article Colin posts is only for someone who needs to
>> restore the original drive letter assignment due to some attempt to
>> change the original through disk management, it is not meant for someone
>> trying to change it permanently from the original. There is no way that
>> you can possibly change the tens of thousands of pointers in the registry
>> and system files. You are stuck with the assigned drive letter, the only
>> way around is to start with a clean system.
>>
>> --
>> Best of Luck,
>>
>> Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
>> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
>> Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone
>> www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
>> Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
>>
>> "Howard" <Howard DeleteThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:67A1562F-71F3-49E7-BE67-D75368B0849E@microsoft.com...
>>> Windows Disk Management tools only allows the user to change the drive
>>> letters of non-system, non active & non bootable drives/partitions on a
>>> hard
>>> drive
>>>
>>> QUESTION: Is there some third party DOS utility/tweak that will allow
>>> the
>>> user to change the drive letter of a Windows System, Active or Boot
>>> drive/partition ????
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance for your replys
>>
>>
>
>