managing drive letters after swapping disks?

[peter]

If I have two disks C: and D:, both have a bootable image on it, I swap them
(meaning the master drive now becomes the slave and the slave now becomes
the master) when the PC is off and reboot, how does winXP decide which one
to become C: and which one to become D: ? The drive letter assignment seems
kind of sticky unlike win98 where you can predict which drive is what letter
based on its master/slave setting and the controller it is attached to.

Is there a way to influence the algorithm so that I can force the one I like
to become the new C: after swapping?

This is vital when cloning a disk (with norton ghost). I need the newly
cloned disk to boot up as C: but it doesn't. Some windows' component failed
because of this.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

If I have two disks C: and D:, both have a bootable image on it, I swap them
(meaning the master drive now becomes the slave and the slave now becomes
the master) when the PC is off and reboot, how does winXP decide which one
to become C: and which one to become D: ? The drive letter assignment seems
kind of sticky unlike win98 where you can predict which drive is what letter
based on its master/slave setting and the controller it is attached to.

Is there a way to influence the algorithm so that I can force the one I like
to become the new C: after swapping?

This is vital when cloning a disk (with norton ghost). I need the newly
cloned disk to boot up as C: but it doesn't. Some windows' component failed
because of this.

Your problem is likely to be caused by something else. If you have
two drives, each containing a copy of the same OS, then Windows
is likely to get confused at boot time and will mix up its drive letters.
A safe way to clone hard disks goes like so:
1. Create the clone.
2. Disconnect the cloned disk.
3. Boot each disk on its own, without the other connected.

 

[Timothy Daniels]

If you have
two drives, each containing a copy of the same OS, then Windows
is likely to get confused at boot time and will mix up its drive letters.
A safe way to clone hard disks goes like so:
1. Create the clone.
2. Disconnect the cloned disk.
3. Boot each disk on its own, without the other connected.

Yes, that is "a safe way". But it's not the necessary way.
What is necessary is that the new clone - when booted for
its *1st time* - does not see it "parent" OS, the one it was
cloned from. Thereafter, it *can* be booted with its
"parent" visible to it, and it will only see its "parent" as
just another Local Disk, perhaps calling it "D:", and containing
a file structure that is accessible to it. But with the "parent"
OS, booting can be done at any time without any harm,
and it will likewise see the clone as being just another
Local Disk, perhaps calling it "D:", and containing a file
structure that is accessible to it. The running OS calls its
partition "C:" in its Disk Management utility, and the other
partition it usually calls "D:" unless there are more partitions
around. In my system, which has many clones on 3 HDs,
I've seen cloned paritions named with letters all the way
out to "K:" while the running OS always calls its own
partition "C:".

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Yes, that is "a safe way". But it's not the necessary way.
What is necessary is that the new clone - when booted for
its *1st time* - does not see it "parent" OS, the one it was
cloned from. Thereafter, it *can* be booted with its
"parent" visible to it, and it will only see its "parent" as
just another Local Disk, perhaps calling it "D:", and containing
a file structure that is accessible to it. But with the "parent"
OS, booting can be done at any time without any harm,
and it will likewise see the clone as being just another
Local Disk, perhaps calling it "D:", and containing a file
structure that is accessible to it. The running OS calls its
partition "C:" in its Disk Management utility, and the other
partition it usually calls "D:" unless there are more partitions
around. In my system, which has many clones on 3 HDs,
I've seen cloned paritions named with letters all the way
out to "K:" while the running OS always calls its own
partition "C:".

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Timothy Daniels]

Thanks for the clarification.

Hey, I *like* to help the humans.

*TimDaniels*