How do I Force CD/DVD Drive Letters to stay put?

G

Guest

Is there a positive way force the drive letters to stay put? (e.g. a registry
edit?, start-up file edit?, anything?)

I have been fighting this issue for a while now, and am not making any
progress.

Using the Managment console, I have set my CD and DVD to "V" and "W"
respectively to avoid the constant re-lettering of these drives due to the
addition of, and/or removal of, removeable storage (USB memory devices or
flash memory cards).

For some reason, , Windows XP forgets the letters that I have reassigned
the CD/DVD drives, and it reassigns new letters to them again (and to any
removable drive still in place), to whatever configuration it thinks
appropriate at that moment (the letters vary). The end result is that my
CD-ROM and DVD-ROM always seemed to be labeled with a different drive letter.
The re-assignment of drive letters seems to be quite random, it occurs even
when simply re-starting, and/or with or without additional USB drives or
devices. I have also noticed that the change of some USB devices almost
always triggers the drive re-lettering. Also, leaving a CD or DVD in one of
the drives during re-boot will also cause a letter change.

I have already tried the phantom drive removal trick, and uninstalled and
reinstalled all of my drives (except C-drive) - several times. The
DevMgmtX-cmd/ uninstall and re-install of the devices is also ineffective -
it sometimes works, until I introduce additional devices, then I get random
drive letters again.

At this point, I have even tried a new primary hard drive and complete
re-install of Windows XP - same problem...

--------------------------------
Additional details:

Computer is ABIT IC7-G M/B, Pentium 4, Windows XP Pro - SP2, 2 IDE
Harddrives, 1 IDE CD R/RW, 1 IDE DVD R/RW, USB Keyboard, USB Mouse, and USB
multifunction printer. All changes made using Administrator account.

Non-removable items: The CD and DVD drives are on the same IDE cable,
jumpered as slave and master - they do not work with any other jumper
settings. The hard drives are on the other IDE cable also jumpered as slave
and master. The card reader and USB port is a panel mounted unit on the
front of the computer, connected to USB slots on the motherboard. The cards
always go into the same slot per type, same slot also with the USB plug type
memory devices. The motherboard also has built-in USB ports which are
connected to the keyboard, mouse, and printer.

Removable items: USB Scanner, USB Memory stick, various memory cards (USB
Interface).

Thank you for your help
 
U

Uwe Sieber

John said:
At this point, I have even tried a new primary hard drive and complete
re-install of Windows XP - same problem...

Then I would assume a hardware problem with your CD/DVD drives.

Solution if it is a hardware problem: Get an PCI IDE controller
and attach the CD and the DVD drive to their own port.
I suggest an good old Promise Ultra 33 or Ultra 66. They are
cheap at eBay because of their 128 GB limit which is no problem
for CD/DVD drives.


Uwe
 
G

Guest

Thank you for your response.

I have tried all of the software solutions I could find, perhaps the PCI/IDE
crad would solve this issue. I will get one and try it.

Thank you.
 

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