My System: Pentium 4 - 2.8 GHz - Windows XP PRo SP2 on HardDisk1 & Vista
Ultimate on HardDisk2.
PC Experience: Moderate :Home/Office User.
---------------------------------------------------
How can I prevent Drive letters from changing when I boot to Windows XP or
Vista?
My two HardDisks are partitioned into 3 drives each. I need to have
Partition 2 on my first HardDisk assigned to letter D. But when I boot to
VISTA (installed on my 2nd HardDisk - partition Letter E:\), this becomes C:\
as it should, but shoves Windows XP from C:\ to D:\ ....and in turn Drive D:\
(where I have all Data ), becomes E:\ etc.
I don't want to move my Data from Letter D:\ (I have hundred of shortcuts
pointing to this path and if I change it, all of them and assigned icons will
be not work)

Tried to do a google search, but my phrasing of the question did not bring
up anything relevant to my query.

There must be a solution to this : thanks for reading this.

"Twanny" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:C3C44AFC-0BA0-4605-9E28-(E-Mail Removed)...
> My System: Pentium 4 - 2.8 GHz - Windows XP PRo SP2 on HardDisk1 & Vista
> Ultimate on HardDisk2.
> PC Experience: Moderate :Home/Office User.
> ---------------------------------------------------
> How can I prevent Drive letters from changing when I boot to Windows XP or
> Vista?
> My two HardDisks are partitioned into 3 drives each. I need to have
> Partition 2 on my first HardDisk assigned to letter D. But when I boot to
> VISTA (installed on my 2nd HardDisk - partition Letter E:\), this becomes
> C:\
> as it should, but shoves Windows XP from C:\ to D:\ ....and in turn Drive
> D:\
> (where I have all Data ), becomes E:\ etc.
> I don't want to move my Data from Letter D:\ (I have hundred of shortcuts
> pointing to this path and if I change it, all of them and assigned icons
> will
> be not work)
>
> Tried to do a google search, but my phrasing of the question did not bring
> up anything relevant to my query.
>
> There must be a solution to this : thanks for reading this.

Seeing that your question relates to your Vista boot, you
should really post it in a Vista newsgroup, not in a WinXP
newsgroup. Under WinXP you would click Start / Run /
diskmgmt.msc, then reassign the various drive letters the
way you want them. It's probably the same under Vista.

"Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:

>
> "Twanny" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:C3C44AFC-0BA0-4605-9E28-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > My System: Pentium 4 - 2.8 GHz - Windows XP PRo SP2 on HardDisk1 & Vista
> > Ultimate on HardDisk2.
> > PC Experience: Moderate :Home/Office User.
> > ---------------------------------------------------
> > How can I prevent Drive letters from changing when I boot to Windows XP or
> > Vista?
> > My two HardDisks are partitioned into 3 drives each. I need to have
> > Partition 2 on my first HardDisk assigned to letter D. But when I boot to
> > VISTA (installed on my 2nd HardDisk - partition Letter E:\), this becomes
> > C:\
> > as it should, but shoves Windows XP from C:\ to D:\ ....and in turn Drive
> > D:\
> > (where I have all Data ), becomes E:\ etc.
> > I don't want to move my Data from Letter D:\ (I have hundred of shortcuts
> > pointing to this path and if I change it, all of them and assigned icons
> > will
> > be not work)
> >
> > Tried to do a google search, but my phrasing of the question did not bring
> > up anything relevant to my query.
> >
> > There must be a solution to this : thanks for reading this.
>
> Seeing that your question relates to your Vista boot, you
> should really post it in a Vista newsgroup, not in a WinXP
> newsgroup. Under WinXP you would click Start / Run /
> diskmgmt.msc, then reassign the various drive letters the
> way you want them. It's probably the same under Vista.
----------------
Thanks for reading and replying. Actually, I just bought Vista and I am
green about using it and more familiar with XP -hence I posted here.
I already did assign the Drive letters with diskmgmt and they are OK under
XP. When booting to Vista though (the 2nd OS), Vista takes C:\ and pushes XP
from C:\ to D:\. How can I maintain D:\ for Data no matter how many OP
systems are installed? Do I assign XP to, for example, X:\ and thus keep the
already assigned partitions to their allocated letters? I do not want to mess
up when I boot to XP again... will XP (now X:\ ) revert back to C:\ ? Thanks
again.
>
>
>

"Twanny" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:3BA2341D-A52D-41B6-BD41-(E-Mail Removed)...
>
>
> "Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:
>
>>
>> "Twanny" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:C3C44AFC-0BA0-4605-9E28-(E-Mail Removed)...
>> > My System: Pentium 4 - 2.8 GHz - Windows XP PRo SP2 on HardDisk1 &
>> > Vista
>> > Ultimate on HardDisk2.
>> > PC Experience: Moderate :Home/Office User.
>> > ---------------------------------------------------
>> > How can I prevent Drive letters from changing when I boot to Windows XP
>> > or
>> > Vista?
>> > My two HardDisks are partitioned into 3 drives each. I need to have
>> > Partition 2 on my first HardDisk assigned to letter D. But when I boot
>> > to
>> > VISTA (installed on my 2nd HardDisk - partition Letter E:\), this
>> > becomes
>> > C:\
>> > as it should, but shoves Windows XP from C:\ to D:\ ....and in turn
>> > Drive
>> > D:\
>> > (where I have all Data ), becomes E:\ etc.
>> > I don't want to move my Data from Letter D:\ (I have hundred of
>> > shortcuts
>> > pointing to this path and if I change it, all of them and assigned
>> > icons
>> > will
>> > be not work)
>> >
>> > Tried to do a google search, but my phrasing of the question did not
>> > bring
>> > up anything relevant to my query.
>> >
>> > There must be a solution to this : thanks for reading this.
>>
>> Seeing that your question relates to your Vista boot, you
>> should really post it in a Vista newsgroup, not in a WinXP
>> newsgroup. Under WinXP you would click Start / Run /
>> diskmgmt.msc, then reassign the various drive letters the
>> way you want them. It's probably the same under Vista.
> ----------------
> Thanks for reading and replying. Actually, I just bought Vista and I am
> green about using it and more familiar with XP -hence I posted here.
> I already did assign the Drive letters with diskmgmt and they are OK under
> XP. When booting to Vista though (the 2nd OS), Vista takes C:\ and pushes
> XP
> from C:\ to D:\. How can I maintain D:\ for Data no matter how many OP
> systems are installed? Do I assign XP to, for example, X:\ and thus keep
> the
> already assigned partitions to their allocated letters? I do not want to
> mess
> up when I boot to XP again... will XP (now X:\ ) revert back to C:\ ?
> Thanks
> again.
>>

The letters you assign to your WinXP partitions while running under
Vista will NOT affect the letters visible when you're back in WinXP.

The cleanest way to retain drive letters in a multi-boot environment
is to use a proper boot manager such as XOSL. However, if you
have already installed your two OSs then it's really too late toi change.

"Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:

>
> "Twanny" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:3BA2341D-A52D-41B6-BD41-(E-Mail Removed)...
> >
> >
> > "Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> "Twanny" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> >> news:C3C44AFC-0BA0-4605-9E28-(E-Mail Removed)...
> >> > My System: Pentium 4 - 2.8 GHz - Windows XP PRo SP2 on HardDisk1 &
> >> > Vista
> >> > Ultimate on HardDisk2.
> >> > PC Experience: Moderate :Home/Office User.
> >> > ---------------------------------------------------
> >> > How can I prevent Drive letters from changing when I boot to Windows XP
> >> > or
> >> > Vista?
> >> > My two HardDisks are partitioned into 3 drives each. I need to have
> >> > Partition 2 on my first HardDisk assigned to letter D. But when I boot
> >> > to
> >> > VISTA (installed on my 2nd HardDisk - partition Letter E:\), this
> >> > becomes
> >> > C:\
> >> > as it should, but shoves Windows XP from C:\ to D:\ ....and in turn
> >> > Drive
> >> > D:\
> >> > (where I have all Data ), becomes E:\ etc.
> >> > I don't want to move my Data from Letter D:\ (I have hundred of
> >> > shortcuts
> >> > pointing to this path and if I change it, all of them and assigned
> >> > icons
> >> > will
> >> > be not work)
> >> >
> >> > Tried to do a google search, but my phrasing of the question did not
> >> > bring
> >> > up anything relevant to my query.
> >> >
> >> > There must be a solution to this : thanks for reading this.
> >>
> >> Seeing that your question relates to your Vista boot, you
> >> should really post it in a Vista newsgroup, not in a WinXP
> >> newsgroup. Under WinXP you would click Start / Run /
> >> diskmgmt.msc, then reassign the various drive letters the
> >> way you want them. It's probably the same under Vista.
> > ----------------
> > Thanks for reading and replying. Actually, I just bought Vista and I am
> > green about using it and more familiar with XP -hence I posted here.
> > I already did assign the Drive letters with diskmgmt and they are OK under
> > XP. When booting to Vista though (the 2nd OS), Vista takes C:\ and pushes
> > XP
> > from C:\ to D:\. How can I maintain D:\ for Data no matter how many OP
> > systems are installed? Do I assign XP to, for example, X:\ and thus keep
> > the
> > already assigned partitions to their allocated letters? I do not want to
> > mess
> > up when I boot to XP again... will XP (now X:\ ) revert back to C:\ ?
> > Thanks
> > again.
> >>
>
> The letters you assign to your WinXP partitions while running under
> Vista will NOT affect the letters visible when you're back in WinXP.
>
> The cleanest way to retain drive letters in a multi-boot environment
> is to use a proper boot manager such as XOSL. However, if you
> have already installed your two OSs then it's really too late toi change.
------------------
I will take your word for it!
It won't be a problem re-installing Vista - I have not yet installed other
programs yet. I have found a bootmanager called VistaBootPro3.3 and it will
give it a go.
Again, thanks for your time and replies.
>
>
>

I started running into that problem in Win 2000 last year.

You need to mess with the following Refistry key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices

In my case, not only were drive letters changing, duplicate drives were
created.

Even after the problem gets fixed, it sometimes reappears

A very useful article on fixing drive letters was at
http://www.goodells.net/multiboot/partsigs.htm.
I believe that the issue is also described in the MSFT KB (search for
MountedDevices).

"Howard Kaikow" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:O$(E-Mail Removed)...
>I started running into that problem in Win 2000 last year.
>
> You need to mess with the following Refistry key
>
> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices

Modifying this key has the same result as using
the GUI under diskmgmt.msc - with one exception:
diskmgmt.msc won't let you change the system drive
letter (which would cripple the PC). When hacking
the registry there is no such safety net. The OP should
be well aware of this potential danger.

"Pegasus (MVP)" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:eRO$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Modifying this key has the same result as using
> the GUI under diskmgmt.msc

Not quite

Windows 2000 clearly ignores those reqistry keys under some circumstances.

"Howard Kaikow" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> "Pegasus (MVP)" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:eRO$(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Modifying this key has the same result as using
>> the GUI under diskmgmt.msc
>
> Not quite
>
> Windows 2000 clearly ignores those reqistry keys under some circumstances.
>

I beg to disagree. If you modify the system drive letter in
HKLM\SYSTEM\MountedDevices under Win2000 then
it will stick. I suggest you give it a try.

P.S. Aren't we getting sidetracked? The OP asked about
WinXP and Vista, so your assumption about Win2000 does
not appear to be relevant to this thread.

"Pegasus (MVP)" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:%(E-Mail Removed)...
> I beg to disagree. If you modify the system drive letter in
> HKLM\SYSTEM\MountedDevices under Win2000 then
> it will stick. I suggest you give it a try.

My problem has never been with the system drive.
Other drive letters have not always stuck.