Map a USB Drive Letter?

[Solon]

Greetings,

I'm using XP at work and have an external hard drive connected through a USB
port. When I first attached it, the drive was designated "E:" and all went
well.
I don't leave it running constantly, and generally turn it off overnight,
though it does remain connected to that same USB port 24/7.

This morning I had to add some files to my computer using a different
external drive through a different USB port. The original external drive was
shut off at the time.

I connected the 2nd drive and the system assigned it the "E:" letter. This
wasn't a big deal, as I simply meant to swap some files and be done. I did
have to turn External #1 on to access some of the files, and it was assigned
as drive "F:" which, again, was no biggie.

Well, now my 1st drive is ALWAYS the "F:" drive. It's a problem for day to
day operation as I have a LOT of shortcuts pointing to it as the "E:" drive.

I figured maybe it was always F: because the other one had been turned on
first.. so I turned just the 1st drive on.. and it's F:... then I tried
turning them both on.. the 1st external drive is still F: and the 2nd one is
E:... I tried re-booting and a few other things I don't remember (though
some of them involved cussing) and nothing works.

I didn't try renaming the volumes as they are descriptive and the 2nd drive
is used on other computers at times, and I'd really rather leave volume
names alone. My system originally saw the 1st as "E:"... it set up the 2nd
as "E:" all by itself without my permission.. so I know the capability is
there for it to set the 1st drive BACK to "E:"...

I looked at trying to map it.. but that only seems to work for network
drives not USB-connected drive.... so.. how does one 'map' a 'local'
drive or restore a drive's original letter???

Thanks

Shane

 

[Ed Metcalfe]

Greetings,

I'm using XP at work and have an external hard drive connected through a
USB port. When I first attached it, the drive was designated "E:" and all
went well.
I don't leave it running constantly, and generally turn it off overnight,
though it does remain connected to that same USB port 24/7.

This morning I had to add some files to my computer using a different
external drive through a different USB port. The original external drive
was shut off at the time.

I connected the 2nd drive and the system assigned it the "E:" letter. This
wasn't a big deal, as I simply meant to swap some files and be done. I did
have to turn External #1 on to access some of the files, and it was
assigned as drive "F:" which, again, was no biggie.

Well, now my 1st drive is ALWAYS the "F:" drive. It's a problem for day to
day operation as I have a LOT of shortcuts pointing to it as the "E:"
drive.

I figured maybe it was always F: because the other one had been turned on
first.. so I turned just the 1st drive on.. and it's F:... then I tried
turning them both on.. the 1st external drive is still F: and the 2nd one
is E:... I tried re-booting and a few other things I don't remember
(though some of them involved cussing) and nothing works.

I didn't try renaming the volumes as they are descriptive and the 2nd
drive is used on other computers at times, and I'd really rather leave
volume names alone. My system originally saw the 1st as "E:"... it set up
the 2nd as "E:" all by itself without my permission.. so I know the
capability is there for it to set the 1st drive BACK to "E:"...

I looked at trying to map it.. but that only seems to work for network
drives not USB-connected drive.... so.. how does one 'map' a 'local'
drive or restore a drive's original letter???

Thanks

Shane

Right-click over My Computer, select Manage. Go to Disk Management.
Right-click over your USB drive and select Change Drive Letter and Paths.

Ed Metcalfe.

 

[Solon]

Ed,

:: MASSIVE headslap :: I KNEW there was some super-simple thing I was simply
not remembering!!!!

Worked like a charm, thanks for the info.

Shane

 

[Ed Metcalfe]

Ed,

:: MASSIVE headslap :: I KNEW there was some super-simple thing I was
simply not remembering!!!!

Worked like a charm, thanks for the info.

Shane

You're welcome Shane.

Ed Metcalfe.

 

[Noozer]

Greetings,

I'm using XP at work and have an external hard drive connected through a
USB port. When I first attached it, the drive was designated "E:" and all
went well.

Look for a software called USBDLM (USB Drive Letter Manager). It allows you
to put a small file on the USB drive to tell Windows what drive letter to
use (and secondary, third, etc. choice should the wanted letter already be
in use).

 

[Solon]

OOoo.. thanks, Noozer!

Look for a software called USBDLM (USB Drive Letter Manager). It allows
you to put a small file on the USB drive to tell Windows what drive letter
to use (and secondary, third, etc. choice should the wanted letter already
be in use).