Clean Install of Windows XP --drive letters switched!

[Paige Miller]

I had to do a clean install of my Windows XP operating system.

Previously, my Windows installation was on my 80-gig C: drive. I also
had a 160 gig D: drive.

I did the install, things seem to be working, except ... now the C:
drive and D: drive are reversed. The system thinks Windows is
installed on the 80-gig D: drive now.

Can I change the drive letters without screwing things up? If so, how?


--
Paige Miller
(e-mail address removed)

It's nothing until I call it -- Bill Klem, NL Umpire
If you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance -- Lee Ann Womack

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi Paige,

First, regardless of anything else, you cannot change the drive letter
assigned to the partition/volume housing the windows installation.

I did the install, things seem to be working, except ... now the C: drive
and D: drive are reversed. The system thinks Windows is installed on the
80-gig D: drive now.

Now, was it installed to the 160GB D: drive, or to a new folder on the 80GB
C: drive? Where did you want it to install?

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Paige Miller]

Hi Paige,

First, regardless of anything else, you cannot change the drive letter
assigned to the partition/volume housing the windows installation.


Now, was it installed to the 160GB D: drive, or to a new folder on the
80GB C: drive? Where did you want it to install?

No, it was definitely installed to the 80GB drive, which was C: before
the re-install, and is now D:

The 160GB drive with all my data, but no programs, was D:, and now is C:



--
Paige Miller
(e-mail address removed)

It's nothing until I call it -- Bill Klem, NL Umpire
If you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance -- Lee Ann Womack

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi Paige,

Well, the short answer is no, you cannot change the drive letters. Your only
option, should you *really* want to have Windows on C: would be to start
over, and this time disconnect the 160GB drive before beginning the
installation.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Paige Miller]

Hi Paige,

Well, the short answer is no, you cannot change the drive letters. Your
only option, should you *really* want to have Windows on C: would be to
start over, and this time disconnect the 160GB drive before beginning
the installation.

As in open the case, and physically removing the cable from the drive
160 GB drive?

Well, if I can figure out which drive is which, I will give it a try,
but I am concerned that somehow the drives are set up so that drive 0
on the controller is the 160GB. How would I find out?

--
Paige Miller
(e-mail address removed)

It's nothing until I call it -- Bill Klem, NL Umpire
If you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance -- Lee Ann Womack

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi Paige,

Disconnect one, then start the machine and enter the BIOS to see which one
is loading.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Paige Miller]

Hi Paige,

Disconnect one, then start the machine and enter the BIOS to see which
one is loading.

Thanks!

Well now that I think about it, I guess there really is no reason that
I can think of the force the operating system to be the C: drive. It
just feels weird now that it is on the D: drive. That's a lot of work
if I don't have to do it.

But I'm not an expert ... is there any reason whatsoever why the
operating system works better on the C: drive than the D: drive? Or is
there no real difference?

Another strange thing now that I have done a clean install -- the
computer won't boot at all unless the Windows XP Recovery CD-ROM is in
the CD drive. If I take it out and then try to reboot, I get a message
saying that I have to have a bootable disk ... how do I fix that?

--
Paige Miller
(e-mail address removed)

It's nothing until I call it -- Bill Klem, NL Umpire
If you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance -- Lee Ann Womack

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi,

It makes no difference where Windows is installed, C: is just a convention.
As to your other problem, it is often resolved by booting the CD and running
the Recovery Console when first prompted to hit 'r'. From the prompt, run
fixmbr.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[NewScience]

Before you physically disconnect, you can go into your BIOS and disable the
drive. The drive should show up referenced by it's size and name
(Manufacturer), so you should be able to tell them apart.

 

[Andy]

Thanks!

Well now that I think about it, I guess there really is no reason that
I can think of the force the operating system to be the C: drive. It
just feels weird now that it is on the D: drive. That's a lot of work
if I don't have to do it.

But I'm not an expert ... is there any reason whatsoever why the
operating system works better on the C: drive than the D: drive? Or is
there no real difference?

Another strange thing now that I have done a clean install -- the
computer won't boot at all unless the Windows XP Recovery CD-ROM is in
the CD drive. If I take it out and then try to reboot, I get a message
saying that I have to have a bootable disk ... how do I fix that?

Run Disk Management (right click My Computer > Manage > Disk
Management) and check the partition status. The disk that contains the
partition that is identified as system is the disk that BIOS setup
should be configured to boot from.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Thanks!

Well now that I think about it, I guess there really is no reason that
I can think of the force the operating system to be the C: drive. It
just feels weird now that it is on the D: drive. That's a lot of work
if I don't have to do it.

But I'm not an expert ... is there any reason whatsoever why the
operating system works better on the C: drive than the D: drive? Or is
there no real difference?

I see that Rick has already answered you, but if you want a second opinion,
I'll echo what he says. It makes no difference at all. Because of a
somewhat unusual hardware setup, I have Windows installed on F: here, and it
works just fine.

 

[Paige Miller]

Run Disk Management (right click My Computer > Manage > Disk
Management) and check the partition status. The disk that contains the
partition that is identified as system is the disk that BIOS setup
should be configured to boot from.

I tried to change the BIOS. I know I was successful, the startup order
is floppy, hard drive, CD ROM, but it still refuses to start without
the Recovery CD Rom in the drive. If I take the CD ROM out and try to
start it, I get this message

DISK BOOT FAILURE
INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER

--
Paige Miller
(e-mail address removed)

It's nothing until I call it -- Bill Klem, NL Umpire
If you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance -- Lee Ann Womack

 

[Andy]

The setting of interest is Hard Disk Drives or Hard Disk Boot
Priority. Move the correct drive to the top of the list.

 

[Paige Miller]

The setting of interest is Hard Disk Drives or Hard Disk Boot
Priority. Move the correct drive to the top of the list.

Thanks, Andy, but I did that. I even went so far as to remove the
CD-ROM from the boot-up sequence, and I was still unable to boot
without the Windows XP Recovery CD in the drive. I don't know what
else to do?


--
Paige Miller
(e-mail address removed)

It's nothing until I call it -- Bill Klem, NL Umpire
If you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance -- Lee Ann Womack