Drive letters changed in Windows XP setup

[philipdaviddrew]

Hi there, I wondered if anyone could help me with this problem. I have
three active partitions on my hard disk that are designated C, G, and
E in Windows. C is a boot partition where Windows is installed and the
I use the other two for data (mp3s, photos, etc.) G: is listed as a
System partition in Disk Managment, although there is no operating
system installed there. I want to wipe the Windows partition and
reinstall the operating system. The drive is actually a Promise RAID
array on an Asus K8V motherboard, consisting of two 120 GB disks where
all the data is duplicated for safety. When I boot from the Windows
disc and load the RAID drivers from floppy I am given a list of
partitions on the disc where the Windows partition is D and the two
data partions are C and I.

My only option seems to be to delete the Windows partition and install
Windows on D. However, what I don't know is what would happen when I
run the new Windows installation. Will this partition now be called C
or will it still be D? I would prefer Windows to be on C and I assume
programs expect Windows to be on the C drive.

Please can you offer me any advice?

Thanks in advance,
Phil

 

[Larry(LJL269)]

Have you tried deleting C in Disk Managment then running OS install?

HTH-Larry

Hi there, I wondered if anyone could help me with this problem. I have
three active partitions on my hard disk that are designated C, G, and
E in Windows. C is a boot partition where Windows is installed and the
I use the other two for data (mp3s, photos, etc.) G: is listed as a
System partition in Disk Managment, although there is no operating
system installed there. I want to wipe the Windows partition and
reinstall the operating system. The drive is actually a Promise RAID
array on an Asus K8V motherboard, consisting of two 120 GB disks where
all the data is duplicated for safety. When I boot from the Windows
disc and load the RAID drivers from floppy I am given a list of
partitions on the disc where the Windows partition is D and the two
data partions are C and I.

My only option seems to be to delete the Windows partition and install
Windows on D. However, what I don't know is what would happen when I
run the new Windows installation. Will this partition now be called C
or will it still be D? I would prefer Windows to be on C and I assume
programs expect Windows to be on the C drive.

Please can you offer me any advice?

Thanks in advance,
Phil

Any advise given is my attempt to show appreciation for all
the excellent help I've received here but I'm no MVP so it
may only apply NUGS (Normally, Usually, Generally, Sometimes

 

[phlebas]

Thanks for your reply Harry. Haven't tried that yet. I wanted to be
sure about what I was doing before the plunge.

Phil

 

[Larry(LJL269)]

I think if u hid C and made it unbootable with say PMagic7 u could get
both on. I did. U dont want old C anyway, do u?

Right now u r trying to put 2 OS's on which gets tricky esp if both r
XP.

HTH-Larry.

Thanks for your reply Harry. Haven't tried that yet. I wanted to be
sure about what I was doing before the plunge.

Phil

Any advise given is my attempt to show appreciation for all
the excellent help I've received here but I'm no MVP so it
may only apply NUGS (Normally, Usually, Generally, Sometimes

 

[John]

Hi there, I wondered if anyone could help me with this problem. I have
three active partitions on my hard disk that are designated C, G, and
E in Windows. C is a boot partition where Windows is installed and the
I use the other two for data (mp3s, photos, etc.) G: is listed as a
System partition in Disk Managment, although there is no operating
system installed there. I want to wipe the Windows partition and
reinstall the operating system. The drive is actually a Promise RAID
array on an Asus K8V motherboard, consisting of two 120 GB disks where
all the data is duplicated for safety. When I boot from the Windows
disc and load the RAID drivers from floppy I am given a list of
partitions on the disc where the Windows partition is D and the two
data partions are C and I.

My only option seems to be to delete the Windows partition and install
Windows on D. However, what I don't know is what would happen when I
run the new Windows installation. Will this partition now be called C
or will it still be D? I would prefer Windows to be on C and I assume
programs expect Windows to be on the C drive.

Please can you offer me any advice?

Thanks in advance,
Phil

Why are there so many *active* partitions? Unless you have some really
exotic multi-boot needs only one active partition in any one comp is
necessary regardless of how many OS's that comp happens to host. More
than one as you have found out just leads to confusion. Now I am not
saying that the first physical partition on the primary master
absolutely has to be C: and where the comp boots from but most Window's
users expect it to be. I am also not saying that there can't be more
than one active partition but rather that one is generally sufficient
and certainly less confusing.

Anyway ... It appears that in your comp G: has the actual boot strap
files (NTDETECT.COM, ntldr and boot.ini) regardless of MS's mis-naming
conventions. And the XP OS itself (what would be more aptly named the
system) is installed to C: But only you know where G: and C: are
physically located in your comp or if that is even a care for you. For
all I know C: could be the first physical partition of the primary
master or the last partition of the secondary slave?

If you want to be like most users then make the first physical partition
on the primary master the only active partition and then re-install XP
there. The OS and its boot strap files will be on C:. Your data
partitions can each be given a drive letter of your choosing. If this is
not a care then install wherever you want.

As far as apps are concerned, if they haven't the wit to figure out
where Windows is located then just assume that they are too poorly coded
to be worth your bother.


John