hard drive goof up on reinstall

[Roscoe]

I recently was having issues so I decided to reinstall XP. I have two
hard drives. One was partitioned into three drives, the second a
single extended partition (Keeps the second drive from booting up as
the D drive).

The reinstall saw that I already had an operating system on the c:
drive so the only way it would continue was to delete and recreate the
partition and then format. After the install (and SP2 update) was
complete, I noticed that the drive names were all jumbled up. I
started reassigning drive names and the second partion on the main
drive would not let me change it...it is now identified as a system
drive (C: is the boot drive).

How can I fix this without wiping the data on the drives and
repartitioning the the drive? I want the first drive to come up as C:,
D: and E:, and the second drive to come up as F: Now, the drive I want
as D: is assigned as I: and I can't change it...

Roscoe

 

[Malke]

I recently was having issues so I decided to reinstall XP. I have two
hard drives. One was partitioned into three drives, the second a
single extended partition (Keeps the second drive from booting up as
the D drive).

The reinstall saw that I already had an operating system on the c:
drive so the only way it would continue was to delete and recreate the
partition and then format. After the install (and SP2 update) was
complete, I noticed that the drive names were all jumbled up. I
started reassigning drive names and the second partion on the main
drive would not let me change it...it is now identified as a system
drive (C: is the boot drive).

How can I fix this without wiping the data on the drives and
repartitioning the the drive? I want the first drive to come up as C:,
D: and E:, and the second drive to come up as F: Now, the drive I want
as D: is assigned as I: and I can't change it...

I'm sorry, but the only way to change the system drive letter is to
clean-install Windows. Disconnect the second drive and install as desired
onto the first drive. After you have finished installing, you can attach
the second drive. BTW, you don't need to go through any special
partitioning or machinations to rename a non-system partition to whatever
letter you like - you can simply change the letter in Computer Management
(Administrative Tools).

Malke

 

[Roscoe]

Problem is the second drive is on the same physical drive in an
extended partition, therefore that drive can't be disconnected (note I
actually have 2 logical drives in that partition, the second drive was
easily reassignable). I suspect but don't know for sure that the
system tag on that drive occurred when I deleted the primary partition.

I understand I can reassign disk letters...the issue is this mistakenly
assigned (by windows, not me) "system" disk.

 

[Malke]

Problem is the second drive is on the same physical drive in an
extended partition, therefore that drive can't be disconnected (note I
actually have 2 logical drives in that partition, the second drive was
easily reassignable). I suspect but don't know for sure that the
system tag on that drive occurred when I deleted the primary partition.

I understand I can reassign disk letters...the issue is this mistakenly
assigned (by windows, not me) "system" disk.

I see. When you originally referred to "drives" I naturally thought you
meant separate physical hard drives. If I were you, I'd back up my data and
clean-install Windows, fixing the partitioning then. Otherwise, I'm afraid
there is no way for you to change the drive letter on the system partition
non-destructively.

Malke

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

To avoid the confusion that plagues this thread it might be
helpful to use the word "disk" when referring to the
physical thing (e.g. "I bought an 80 GByte disk") and
"drive" when referring to the logical entity (e.g. "My
system is installed on drive I:").

It is actually possible to set your drive letters any way
you like, by renaming the various keys here:
HKLM\SYSTEM\MountedDevices\DosDevices\x:
where "x" stands for any of your drive letters. You must
reboot the machine after the rename. However, your
installation is likely to suffere from serious problems
when you do this. If you intend to go for a new installation
then you might try this method for fun, just before reformatting.

 

[Frank]

I recently was having issues so I decided to reinstall XP. I have two
hard drives. One was partitioned into three drives, the second a
single extended partition (Keeps the second drive from booting up as
the D drive).

The reinstall saw that I already had an operating system on the c:
drive so the only way it would continue was to delete and recreate the
partition and then format. After the install (and SP2 update) was
complete, I noticed that the drive names were all jumbled up. I
started reassigning drive names and the second partion on the main
drive would not let me change it...it is now identified as a system
drive (C: is the boot drive).

How can I fix this without wiping the data on the drives and
repartitioning the the drive? I want the first drive to come up as C:,
D: and E:, and the second drive to come up as F: Now, the drive I want
as D: is assigned as I: and I can't change it...

Roscoe

Another pitfall of _partitioning schemes_.

 

[Roberto]

Problem is the second drive is on the same physical drive in an
extended partition, therefore that drive can't be disconnected (note I
actually have 2 logical drives in that partition, the second drive was
easily reassignable). I suspect but don't know for sure that the
system tag on that drive occurred when I deleted the primary partition.

I understand I can reassign disk letters...the issue is this mistakenly
assigned (by windows, not me) "system" disk.

There are rules that govern drive letter assignments:

1. primary partitions come first
2. extended partitions are "ignored"
3. logical drives follow primary partitions

EG : you have two HDDs in your system
drive A has one primary and two logicals
drive B has one primary and two logicals

drive A will be assigned these C: E: & F:
drive B will have D: G: & H:

You can avoid this drive letter shuffle by not creating a primary
partition on the second HDD
rgds
Roberto

 

[Ron Sommer]

There is no second HDD, just one physical drive.
--
Ron Sommer

:
: : > Problem is the second drive is on the same physical drive in an
: > extended partition, therefore that drive can't be disconnected (note I
: > actually have 2 logical drives in that partition, the second drive was
: > easily reassignable). I suspect but don't know for sure that the
: > system tag on that drive occurred when I deleted the primary partition.
: >
: > I understand I can reassign disk letters...the issue is this mistakenly
: > assigned (by windows, not me) "system" disk.
:
: There are rules that govern drive letter assignments:
:
: 1. primary partitions come first
: 2. extended partitions are "ignored"
: 3. logical drives follow primary partitions
:
: EG : you have two HDDs in your system
: drive A has one primary and two logicals
: drive B has one primary and two logicals
:
: drive A will be assigned these C: E: & F:
: drive B will have D: G: & H:
:
: You can avoid this drive letter shuffle by not creating a primary
: partition on the second HDD
: rgds
: Roberto
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
: >
: > Malke wrote:
: >> Roscoe wrote:
: >>
: >> > I recently was having issues so I decided to reinstall XP. I have
two
: >> > hard drives. One was partitioned into three drives, the second a
: >> > single extended partition (Keeps the second drive from booting up as
: >> > the D drive).
: >> >
: >> > The reinstall saw that I already had an operating system on the c:
: >> > drive so the only way it would continue was to delete and recreate
the
: >> > partition and then format. After the install (and SP2 update) was
: >> > complete, I noticed that the drive names were all jumbled up. I
: >> > started reassigning drive names and the second partion on the main
: >> > drive would not let me change it...it is now identified as a system
: >> > drive (C: is the boot drive).
: >> >
: >> > How can I fix this without wiping the data on the drives and
: >> > repartitioning the the drive? I want the first drive to come up as
C:,
: >> > D: and E:, and the second drive to come up as F: Now, the drive I
want
: >> > as D: is assigned as I: and I can't change it...
: >>
: >> I'm sorry, but the only way to change the system drive letter is to
: >> clean-install Windows. Disconnect the second drive and install as
desired
: >> onto the first drive. After you have finished installing, you can
attach
: >> the second drive. BTW, you don't need to go through any special
: >> partitioning or machinations to rename a non-system partition to
whatever
: >> letter you like - you can simply change the letter in Computer
Management
: >> (Administrative Tools).
: >>
: >> Malke
: >> --
: >> MS-MVP Windows Shell/User
: >> Elephant Boy Computers
: >> www.elephantboycomputers.com
: >> "Don't Panic"
: >
:
: