Change/Restore system boot drive letter

[Guest]

I have three hard drives and a DVD-RW in my system. Two of the hard drives
are in removable drive bays. I had them set up thusly:

PM C: (system/boot drive)
PS D: removable hard drive bay
SM E: DVD-RW
SS F: removable hard drive bay

A few removable hard drives are used for emergency archive stuff and have
hard drives that have windows loaded on them. I switch drives around and boot
from them frequently (hence the need for removable hard drive bays) so
there's no telling at any one time. I am being told one shouldn't have more
than one active drive installed at a time, but I don't know how to affect
this and still do what I want to do.

In any case, I bought a new drive, disconnected both removable hard drive
bays and loaded windows XP Pro. Everything went fine. I turned off the
machine and connected the removable hard drive bays and rebooted. The bios
recognized all drives and windows loaded. My problem is that my current
configuration looks like:

PM F: (system/boot drive)
PS D: removable hard drive bay
SM E: DVD-RW
SS C: removable hard drive bay

My SS has by backup files and it's a drag to reconfigure the MS backup app
to restore files in an alternate place. Additionally, all my programs are
going on F: instead of C: and it's messing up things on the other drives!

I went to the Disk Management utility and was able to change the drive
letters for everything but the system/boot drive. I then looked up Article
ID: 223188 (How to restore the system/boot drive letter in Windows) but A)
I'm confused about how to do it and B) it clearly states I might make things
FUBAR'd and when even Microsoft says doing this is not recommended, I tend to
listen.

So, in summation, I need to restore my system/boot drive to the letter C:
without losing my whole installation. Barring that, I need to be assured that
if I chuck it all and re-install windows, I can force it to designate the
drive to C: despite whatever I load later.

Thank you for listening.

 

[Anna]

I have three hard drives and a DVD-RW in my system. Two of the hard drives
are in removable drive bays. I had them set up thusly:

PM C: (system/boot drive)
PS D: removable hard drive bay
SM E: DVD-RW
SS F: removable hard drive bay

A few removable hard drives are used for emergency archive stuff and have
hard drives that have windows loaded on them. I switch drives around and
boot from them frequently (hence the need for removable hard drive bays)
so there's no telling at any one time. I am being told one shouldn't have
more than one active drive installed at a time, but I don't know how to
affect this and still do what I want to do.

In any case, I bought a new drive, disconnected both removable hard drive
bays and loaded windows XP Pro. Everything went fine. I turned off the
machine and connected the removable hard drive bays and rebooted. The bios
recognized all drives and windows loaded. My problem is that my current
configuration looks like:

PM F: (system/boot drive)
PS D: removable hard drive bay
SM E: DVD-RW
SS C: removable hard drive bay

My SS has by backup files and it's a drag to reconfigure the MS backup app
to restore files in an alternate place. Additionally, all my programs are
going on F: instead of C: and it's messing up things on the other drives!

I went to the Disk Management utility and was able to change the drive
letters for everything but the system/boot drive. I then looked up Article
ID: 223188 (How to restore the system/boot drive letter in Windows) but A)
I'm confused about how to do it and B) it clearly states I might make
things FUBAR'd and when even Microsoft says doing this is not recommended,
I tend to listen.

So, in summation, I need to restore my system/boot drive to the letter C:
without losing my whole installation. Barring that, I need to be assured
that if I chuck it all and re-install windows, I can force it to designate
the drive to C: despite whatever I load later.

Thank you for listening.

brutuswon:
I'm not sure if you've already received helpful responses to your query
and/or your problem has been resolved. If it has, please disregard the
following...

Just so we have a clear understanding of your situation...

You say "I bought a new drive, disconnected both removable hard drive bays
and loaded windows XP Pro." I take it for one reason or another you wanted a
fresh install of the XP OS on this new drive. So during the installation of
the OS on that new drive (presumably connected as an internal HD and
configured as Primary Master), it was connected as PM after disconnecting &
removing your former *internal* HD connected as PM? Do I have all this
right? Where's that "old" former PM HD now? By any chance, is it now one of
your removable HDs?

After you installed XP on the new internal drive connected as PM the system
should have, of course, booted to that drive and designate it with the C:
drive letter assignment. Is that what happened?

If you do respond to my questions please be as precise & detailed as you can
as to the steps you undertook leading up to this problem.
Anna

 

[Guest]

My old *internal* hard drive which was connected as PM was corrupted and
smaller and (I'm emmbarrassed to admit) had an illegal copy of Windows XP on
it. I purchased a legal copy and a bigger drive (on sale) and configured it
as the PM. At the time of the install, this was the only hard drive
connected.

After the install (the final reboot), I did not check to see if the drive
was configured with the drive letter C. Why would I? It was the only drive
connected (besides the DVD-RW). Once I saw the Bliss desktop and Windows had
completed loading, I shut it down and connected the 2 removable drives (which
as I said, both had active partitions and Windows loaded). Neither drive was
the one I replaced. One drive had a backup of my documents and settings. When
I went to Windows Explorer to access it, I found the drive letters as
described. I am not sure if the drive letter designations were "changed" or
my boot drive (the new one) was configured as "F" to begin with. As you know,
during an install, after you've sat and read the exciting wonders of
Microsoft's new OS a couple of times on the blue screen, you go tourture the
cat or ... clean the bathroom.

Do you have any idea what might have happened or what options I have and/or
the probable prognosis thereof? Thanks for your response. I was beginning to
despair.

Bob

 

[Anna]

My old *internal* hard drive which was connected as PM was corrupted and
smaller and (I'm emmbarrassed to admit) had an illegal copy of Windows XP
on
it. I purchased a legal copy and a bigger drive (on sale) and configured
it
as the PM. At the time of the install, this was the only hard drive
connected.

After the install (the final reboot), I did not check to see if the drive
was configured with the drive letter C. Why would I? It was the only drive
connected (besides the DVD-RW). Once I saw the Bliss desktop and Windows
had
completed loading, I shut it down and connected the 2 removable drives
(which
as I said, both had active partitions and Windows loaded). Neither drive
was
the one I replaced. One drive had a backup of my documents and settings.
When
I went to Windows Explorer to access it, I found the drive letters as
described. I am not sure if the drive letter designations were "changed"
or
my boot drive (the new one) was configured as "F" to begin with. As you
know,
during an install, after you've sat and read the exciting wonders of
Microsoft's new OS a couple of times on the blue screen, you go tourture
the
cat or ... clean the bathroom.

Do you have any idea what might have happened or what options I have
and/or
the probable prognosis thereof? Thanks for your response. I was beginning
to
despair.

Bob

Bob:
I really can't fathom how this anomaly occurred based on the info you
provided. If (as you say), the two other HDs had the drive assignments you
indicated at the time you installed a fresh copy of the XP OS on your new
internal HD, and those two drives had been disconnected from the system at
the time of that OS install, there's no way that I know of that XP would
have or could have assigned a different drive letter to that new drive other
than C:. But wait!...

Now that I've re:read your last posting I think there *may* be a reason why
this happened...

After you installed XP, possibly you should have made an immediate re:boot
to the new drive rather than immediately connect the two other drives and
re:boot the system at that point. Although I have to admit I'm grasping at
straws here. Since that removable HD set up as SS was formerly designated
(as you say) the F: drive, I really can't see how it could have been
subsequently designated as the C: drive under the circumstances you've
described. In any event, I do not know at this point how you can effectively
change that latter disk's drive letter back to F: and your new HD to C:
without re:formatting & re:installation of the OS. I have come across
supposed "fixes" involving registry hacks for similar problems as yours ,
but they've never worked for me in any reliable way.

But take a look at the MS KB article at
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/223188/EN-US/. If I come up with any other
possible solutions to the problem I'll surely let you know. And I hope
others may have some insights & possible reliable fixes. Keep us informed if
you're able to resolve the issue.
Anna

 

[Barkandhowl]

Bob:
I really can't fathom how this anomaly occurred based on the info you
provided. If (as you say), the two other HDs had the drive assignments you
indicated at the time you installed a fresh copy of the XP OS on your new
internal HD, and those two drives had been disconnected from the system at
the time of that OS install, there's no way that I know of that XP would
have or could have assigned a different drive letter to that new drive other
than C:. But wait!...

Now that I've re:read your last posting I think there *may* be a reason why
this happened...

After you installed XP, possibly you should have made an immediate re:boot
to the new drive rather than immediately connect the two other drives and
re:boot the system at that point. Although I have to admit I'm grasping at
straws here. Since that removable HD set up as SS was formerly designated
(as you say) the F: drive, I really can't see how it could have been
subsequently designated as the C: drive under the circumstances you've
described. In any event, I do not know at this point how you can effectively
change that latter disk's drive letter back to F: and your new HD to C:
without re:formatting & re:installation of the OS. I have come across
supposed "fixes" involving registry hacks for similar problems as yours ,
but they've never worked for me in any reliable way.

But take a look at the MS KB article at
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/223188/EN-US/. If I come up with any other
possible solutions to the problem I'll surely let you know. And I hope
others may have some insights & possible reliable fixes. Keep us informed if
you're able to resolve the issue.
Anna

OK. I have taken a bold step: I reinstalled the OS. I have not yet
re-connected the other drives. Now, Windows shows my boot drive (the
only one connected) as C:. All my programs are still installed but, not
associated with the C drive, so I'm thinking I may have to reinstall all
of them. Do you know if I could use a back up of my old registry? Could
I just edit it to substitute C:/ for any instances of F:? How time
consuming would this be? I assume a blanket Find/Replace would wreck
things more.

 

[Barkandhowl]

Bob:
I really can't fathom how this anomaly occurred based on the info you
provided. If (as you say), the two other HDs had the drive assignments you
indicated at the time you installed a fresh copy of the XP OS on your new
internal HD, and those two drives had been disconnected from the system at
the time of that OS install, there's no way that I know of that XP would
have or could have assigned a different drive letter to that new drive other
than C:. But wait!...

Now that I've re:read your last posting I think there *may* be a reason why
this happened...

After you installed XP, possibly you should have made an immediate re:boot
to the new drive rather than immediately connect the two other drives and
re:boot the system at that point. Although I have to admit I'm grasping at
straws here. Since that removable HD set up as SS was formerly designated
(as you say) the F: drive, I really can't see how it could have been
subsequently designated as the C: drive under the circumstances you've
described. In any event, I do not know at this point how you can effectively
change that latter disk's drive letter back to F: and your new HD to C:
without re:formatting & re:installation of the OS. I have come across
supposed "fixes" involving registry hacks for similar problems as yours ,
but they've never worked for me in any reliable way.

But take a look at the MS KB article at
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/223188/EN-US/. If I come up with any other
possible solutions to the problem I'll surely let you know. And I hope
others may have some insights & possible reliable fixes. Keep us informed if
you're able to resolve the issue.
Anna

BTW, I called MS and found that because I have an OEM version, I would
have to pay $35 to talk to someone. If I attach the other drives and
this happens again, I might have to do it, but even they say that if
they can't find a solution, they'll only give me back the $30 as apposed
to the cost of the OS. $30 + the $139.99 for the OS - Linux is free and
I would have the same support options. Hmm.

 

[Anna]

OK. I have taken a bold step: I reinstalled the OS. I have not yet
re-connected the other drives. Now, Windows shows my boot drive (the only
one connected) as C:. All my programs are still installed but, not
associated with the C drive, so I'm thinking I may have to reinstall all
of them. Do you know if I could use a back up of my old registry? Could I
just edit it to substitute C:/ for any instances of F:? How time consuming
would this be? I assume a blanket Find/Replace would wreck things more.

Bob:
There's really no practical way that I'm aware of where you could manually
edit the registry so that all your programs would be associated with your C:
drive in a way that would make those programs reliably functional. If you do
have a viable backup of the registry with the correct associations and you
can find a way to install that backed-up registry in place of the current
one, perhaps that would work. My gut feeling is that you're probably going
to have to reinstall your programs to your newly-designated C: drive.
Anna

 

[Dick Cardy]

BTW, I called MS and found that because I have an OEM version, I would
have to pay $35 to talk to someone. If I attach the other drives and
this happens again, I might have to do it, but even they say that if
they can't find a solution, they'll only give me back the $30 as apposed
to the cost of the OS. $30 + the $139.99 for the OS - Linux is free and
I would have the same support options. Hmm.

That is because the OEM is supposed to provide you with support.

Dick

 

[Guest]

First, thank you both for your help. Anna, I ended up re-installing all the
programs again and then connecting the other removable drive with no issues.
Besides the aggrevation and still not knowing why it happened in the first
place, I'm a happy guy.

Dick, I *AM* the OEM. I went to a computer show and put together my system
from scratch, then bought the OEM Windows with a set of case screws from
TigerDirect.com. I just don't have a side deal with MS like Dell, Gateway,
et. al, and therefore forefiet (sp) all support. It's just a shame. I can
think of several industries where this practice would be grounds for drumming
them out of business.

Antway, I'm closing this ticket with many thanks. C-Ya.

 

[Dick Cardy]

Dick, I *AM* the OEM. I went to a computer show and put together my system
from scratch, then bought the OEM Windows with a set of case screws from
TigerDirect.com. I just don't have a side deal with MS like Dell, Gateway,
et. al, and therefore forefiet (sp) all support. It's just a shame. I can
think of several industries where this practice would be grounds for drumming
them out of business.

Yes it is a problem, how do you support yourself! Provided you are
recognized by MS as an OEM there is a way to solve this problem, it costs
money but the benefits are worth it.

Dick
A Microsoft OEM who has signed the Microsoft OEM paperwork