I had to install a new IDE hard drive on my Dell 4300. The old drive
was c: - the new one appears as F:
I am sure that both didks have "cable select" jumper set. Any reason
why this would happen?
TIA, Ned

You mean you replaced the drive and reinstalled XP then?

Ned wrote:
> I had to install a new IDE hard drive on my Dell 4300. The old drive
> was c: - the new one appears as F:
> I am sure that both didks have "cable select" jumper set. Any reason
> why this would happen?
> TIA, Ned
>

Yes - I reinstalled XP from my original CD...

Uwe Sieber wrote:
> You mean you replaced the drive and reinstalled XP then?
>
> Ned wrote:
> > I had to install a new IDE hard drive on my Dell 4300. The old drive
> > was c: - the new one appears as F:
> > I am sure that both didks have "cable select" jumper set. Any reason
> > why this would happen?
> > TIA, Ned
> >

Yes , I took out the old drive, put in the new one in the same slot. I
still ony have a single hard disk. XP was reinstalled on the new disk
from mu original CD. It is not a big deal - just having an F:\ system
disk is unusual to me, I was wondering why this happened.

Uwe Sieber wrote:
> You mean you replaced the drive and reinstalled XP then?
>
> Ned wrote:
> > I had to install a new IDE hard drive on my Dell 4300. The old drive
> > was c: - the new one appears as F:
> > I am sure that both didks have "cable select" jumper set. Any reason
> > why this would happen?
> > TIA, Ned
> >

[PC Craze]

i found this solution it might help.

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;223188

Then I assume that your computer has a build in card reader.
For a strange reason the XP setup gives the low drive letters
to the reader's slots even there is no media present while the
setup.

The best solution is to reinstall XP while the card reader
is not present. You can reach this by deactivating USB in
the BIOS setup. If there is no such option then you have
to open the computer and disconnect it from the mainboard...

But you can try to change the letter of the existing Windows
too. Open the registry editor, go to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices

Here you find items like \DosDevices\C:, \DosDevices\F:.

Just change C to F and F to C. Now get an Registy Search
and Replace tool like this:
http://www.articulate-pr.com/RegSearch/REGSRCH.HTM

The replace in the registry
F:\Windows to C:\Windows
F:\Program to C:\Program
F:\Doc to C:\Doc
(or whatever these items are named in your language)

Replacing all F:\ to C:\ might do to much - never tried it.
Then reboot and hope for the best :-)


Greeting from Germany

Uwe


Ned wrote:
> Yes , I took out the old drive, put in the new one in the same slot. I
> still ony have a single hard disk. XP was reinstalled on the new disk
> from mu original CD. It is not a big deal - just having an F:\ system
> disk is unusual to me, I was wondering why this happened.
>
> Uwe Sieber wrote:
>> You mean you replaced the drive and reinstalled XP then?
>>
>> Ned wrote:
>>> I had to install a new IDE hard drive on my Dell 4300. The old drive
>>> was c: - the new one appears as F:
>>> I am sure that both didks have "cable select" jumper set. Any reason
>>> why this would happen?
>>> TIA, Ned
>>>
>

UNattach ALL the removable storage and then Reinstall.

DJ wrote:

> I did the same thing and now my C: drive is an I: drive... the disk manager
> will not let me change it back. This is now a problem as some installation
> programs default to the c: drive for instillations. Is there any way to
> redesignate the c: drive again? Thanks -DJ
>
> "Ned" wrote:
>
>
>>I had to install a new IDE hard drive on my Dell 4300. The old drive
>>was c: - the new one appears as F:
>>I am sure that both didks have "cable select" jumper set. Any reason
>>why this would happen?
>>TIA, Ned
>>
>>

You're welcome, the registry change won't fix a "bad" install, it only
recovers from an inadvertent letter change.

DJ wrote:

> Hey Bob,
>
> Yes, reinstalling without a multi-card reader on the system did the trick.
> I am back to the C: drive being where it is suppoesed to be... it took a
> clean install of XP with no removable storage devices installed.... I will
> hook them next after the XP install... also, modifying the registry didn't
> really help much.
>
> Cheers,
> -DJ
>
> "Bob I" wrote:
>
>
>>UNattach ALL the removable storage and then Reinstall.
>>
>>DJ wrote:
>>
>>
>>>I did the same thing and now my C: drive is an I: drive... the disk manager
>>>will not let me change it back. This is now a problem as some installation
>>>programs default to the c: drive for instillations. Is there any way to
>>>redesignate the c: drive again? Thanks -DJ
>>>
>>>"Ned" wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>I had to install a new IDE hard drive on my Dell 4300. The old drive
>>>>was c: - the new one appears as F:
>>>>I am sure that both didks have "cable select" jumper set. Any reason
>>>>why this would happen?
>>>>TIA, Ned
>>>>
>>>>
>>
>>