Changing drive letter on boot drive in XP

[Brett Chaveriat]

After my boot drive failed, I installed a new one, and
reinstalled XP. During the install, XP decided my second
drive was now c:, and the new one was f: XP was
installed on the new drive (f. I would like to assign
drive c: to the new boot drive. The disk management tool
will not change the boot drive letter. I was able to
reassign the secondary drive from c: to d:, so the c:
drive letter was available for assignment. I really do
not want to reinstall XP if I can avoid it.

Thanks in advance,

Brett

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Drive Letters Change Unexpectedly When You Install Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;326683&Product=winxp

You'll have to physically disconnect whatever drive is shown as the current C: drive,
perform a "clean install", then reconnect that drive.

The Windows XP CD is bootable and contains all the tools necessary
to partition and format your drive. Follow this procedure and allow
Windows XP to partition and format your drive:

NOTE: It would be best to physically disconnect all your peripheral hardware
devices, except the monitor, mouse and keyboard, before installing XP.

1. Open your BIOS and set your "CD Drive as the first bootable device".

===> Accessing Motherboard BIOS
===> http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/bios_manufacturer.htm

2. Insert your Windows XP CD in the CD Drive and reboot your computer.
3. You'll see a message to boot to the CD....follow the instructions.
4. The setup menu will appear and you should elect to delete the existing
Windows partitions, then create a new partition, then format the primary
partition (preferably NTFS) and proceed to install Windows XP.

5. Clean Install Windows XP
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

[Courtesy of Michael Stevens, MS-MVP]

6. After Windows XP is installed, visit the Windows Update website
and download the available "Critical Updates".

7. After installing the critical updates, be sure and visit the support website
of the manufacturer of the computer to download and install any
available Windows XP compatible drivers, such as video adapter
and audio drivers.


--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

Be Smart! Protect your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

-----------------------------------------------------------------------


| After my boot drive failed, I installed a new one, and
| reinstalled XP. During the install, XP decided my second
| drive was now c:, and the new one was f: XP was
| installed on the new drive (f. I would like to assign
| drive c: to the new boot drive. The disk management tool
| will not change the boot drive letter. I was able to
| reassign the secondary drive from c: to d:, so the c:
| drive letter was available for assignment. I really do
| not want to reinstall XP if I can avoid it.
|
| Thanks in advance,
|
| Brett

 

[Brett Chaveriat]

Thanks a lot, Carey. I was hoping to avoid a reinstall,
but if this is the best way to get there, I'll do it.

Brett

-----Original Message-----
Drive Letters Change Unexpectedly When You Install Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en- us;326683&Product=winxp

You'll have to physically disconnect whatever drive is shown as the current C: drive,
perform a "clean install", then reconnect that drive.

The Windows XP CD is bootable and contains all the tools necessary
to partition and format your drive. Follow this procedure and allow
Windows XP to partition and format your drive:

NOTE: It would be best to physically disconnect all your peripheral hardware
devices, except the monitor, mouse and

keyboard, before installing XP.

1. Open your BIOS and set your "CD Drive as the first bootable device".

===> Accessing Motherboard BIOS
===> http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/bios_manufacturer.htm

2. Insert your Windows XP CD in the CD Drive and reboot your computer.
3. You'll see a message to boot to the CD....follow the instructions.
4. The setup menu will appear and you should elect to delete the existing
Windows partitions, then create a new partition, then format the primary
partition (preferably NTFS) and proceed to install Windows XP.

5. Clean Install Windows XP
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

[Courtesy of Michael Stevens, MS-MVP]

6. After Windows XP is installed, visit the Windows Update website
and download the available "Critical Updates".

7. After installing the critical updates, be sure and visit the support website
of the manufacturer of the computer to download and install any
available Windows XP compatible drivers, such as video adapter
and audio drivers.


--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

Be Smart! Protect your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

--------------------------------------------------------- --------------


| After my boot drive failed, I installed a new one, and
| reinstalled XP. During the install, XP decided my second
| drive was now c:, and the new one was f: XP was
| installed on the new drive (f. I would like to assign
| drive c: to the new boot drive. The disk management tool
| will not change the boot drive letter. I was able to
| reassign the secondary drive from c: to d:, so the c:
| drive letter was available for assignment. I really do
| not want to reinstall XP if I can avoid it.
|
| Thanks in advance,
|
| Brett
.

 

[Hans-Georg Michna]

Thanks a lot, Carey. I was hoping to avoid a reinstall,
but if this is the best way to get there, I'll do it.

Brett,

if it's any consolation, my second opinion is the same as
Carey's. It is actually possible to change the drive letter, but
it would create many new problems because of all kinds of
operating system functions already referenceing the wrong drive
letter.

I had to do it once, and it is a nightmare. So if your
installation is still young, do it all over.

Hans-Georg