1. Welcome Guest! In order to create a new topic or reply to an existing one, you must register first. It is easy and free. Click here to sign up now!.
    Dismiss Notice

A,B,C,.... Disk Drives

Discussion in 'Windows Vista' started by KRK, Aug 7, 2009.

  1. KRK

    KRK Guest

    Hello,

    I find it mildly annoying and somtimes confusing that my hard drive is split
    into C: and E:, and an external drive (eg a usb stick) is called D:

    I understand that there are historical reasons for this.

    Is there any point in trying to re-assign the drive letters (and if so,
    how? ) or would it cause more trouble than it's worth ?

    Thanks

    K
     
  2. Eric

    Eric Guest

    KRK wrote:<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
    > Hello,
    >
    > I find it mildly annoying and somtimes confusing that my hard drive is
    > split into C: and E:, and an external drive (eg a usb stick) is called D:
    >
    > I understand that there are historical reasons for this.
    >
    > Is there any point in trying to re-assign the drive letters (and if so,
    > how? ) or would it cause more trouble than it's worth ?
    >
    > Thanks
    >
    > K<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->

    Simply put,

    More Trouble than it's worth.

    I've had two burners and 2 hard drives one of the hard drives split in
    to 2, then when you plug in a usb thumb or external drive you get in to
    the H drives and I drives.

    Trust me it's just not worth the headache, unless you have a huge
    network with many users accessing the drives simultaneously.

    Eric
     
  3. R. C. White

    R. C. White Guest

    Hi, KRK.

    It's part history, part operating system - and part controllable by you.

    In the olden days (in 1977, when I got my first TRS-80), there were NO disk
    drives. Then we got a single floppy drive, which became Drive A:. Then we
    added a second floppy, Drive B:. My computer grew to 4 floppies, but 2 was
    the standard. And then came those humongous 5 MB hard drives! MS-DOS
    (Microsoft DISK Operating System) reserved the A: and B: for the standard 2
    floppies and assigned the letter C: to the hard drive. And that's the way
    it was for a few years.

    And then we went wild! We learned to divide a single hard disk into
    multiple partitions. Rather than call them Partition C: and Partition D:,
    the DOS called them Drive C: and Drive D: - and the name still sticks today,
    inviting confusion. The letters C:, D: - and X: - do not apply to the
    entire physical drive, but to a partition on the drive, even if there is
    only a single partition and it includes the entire drive. Then we added a
    second HDD - and maybe more - and partitioned them and assigned "drive"
    letters to those partitions. And optical drives, first CD and then DVD;
    these usually used disks with only a single partition, but multiple
    partitions on these disks are quite possible and sometimes exist.

    And then came USB, with its flash drives and card readers and other devices,
    along with network drives, and all of these are eligible to be assigned
    "drive" letters.

    Left to its own devices, Windows Vista Setup assigns the letter C: to its
    own "boot volume" and then assigns the letter D: to the "system volume", if
    it is not the same as the boot volume. (See KB314470
    () for the
    counterintuitive definitions of these two terms, "system volume" and "boot
    volume"; it is very important to get them straight in your mind.) After
    that, it assigns letters to other partitions and devices, generally in
    sequence, but with certain exceptions built into the operating system. The
    boot and system volume letters are assigned at the beginning, by Setup.exe,
    and can't be changed except by running Setup again - that is, by
    reinstalling Vista.

    All the other drive letters can be assigned and reassigned by an
    Administrator. Just run the built-in utility, Disk Management. (There are
    several ways to launch Disk Management; I prefer to press Start, type
    "diskmgmt.msc" and press Enter.) Here, after studying the layout for a few
    minutes, it becomes pretty obvious how to do most jobs. To change your USB
    stick from D: to U:, for example, just right-click on Drive D: and choose
    "Change drive letter and paths..." The Wizard will guide you to select from
    the list of unused letters. Once you've "vacated" the letter D:, you can -
    if you choose - right-click on your Drive E: and change it to D:. (There is
    no requirement to use them in sequence, so I like to choose mnemonic letters
    to help me remember.)

    In the top part of Disk Management (the Volume List), widen the Status
    column so that you can read it, then look for the labels "System" and
    "Boot". There should be ONE of each and they MAY both be on the same
    partition. The letter or letters for these partitions cannot be changed,
    but all the others are fair game. Once you have explicitly assigned a
    letter in Disk Management, the system will attempt to use that same letter
    each time you plug in your USB drive or other device, rather than simply
    assigning "the next available letter" each time.

    Disk Management was introduced in Windows 2000, almost 10 years ago, and it
    quickly became one of my favorite features.

    RC
    --
    R. C. White, CPA
    San Marcos, TX
    rc@grandecom.net
    Microsoft Windows MVP
    Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8064.0206) in Win7 Ultimate x64

    "KRK" <trebor@yeleek.nospam.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
    news:eVVCJ71FKHA.4316@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
    > Hello,
    >
    > I find it mildly annoying and somtimes confusing that my hard drive is
    > split into C: and E:, and an external drive (eg a usb stick) is called D:
    >
    > I understand that there are historical reasons for this.
    >
    > Is there any point in trying to re-assign the drive letters (and if so,
    > how? ) or would it cause more trouble than it's worth ?
    >
    > Thanks
    >
    > K <!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
     
  4. KRK

    KRK Guest

    Hi,

    Thanks for this!

    Does that mean that if I reset my usb port to U:, it will always be U:, or
    do I have to do it every time I login ?

    Thanks again

    KK


    "R. C. White" <rc@grandecom.net> wrote in message
    news:ukFEIg2FKHA.4316@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
    > Hi, KRK.
    >
    > It's part history, part operating system - and part controllable by you.
    >
    > In the olden days (in 1977, when I got my first TRS-80), there were NO
    > disk drives. Then we got a single floppy drive, which became Drive A:.
    > Then we added a second floppy, Drive B:. My computer grew to 4 floppies,
    > but 2 was the standard. And then came those humongous 5 MB hard drives!
    > MS-DOS (Microsoft DISK Operating System) reserved the A: and B: for the
    > standard 2 floppies and assigned the letter C: to the hard drive. And
    > that's the way it was for a few years.
    >
    > And then we went wild! We learned to divide a single hard disk into
    > multiple partitions. Rather than call them Partition C: and Partition D:,
    > the DOS called them Drive C: and Drive D: - and the name still sticks
    > today, inviting confusion. The letters C:, D: - and X: - do not apply to
    > the entire physical drive, but to a partition on the drive, even if there
    > is only a single partition and it includes the entire drive. Then we
    > added a second HDD - and maybe more - and partitioned them and assigned
    > "drive" letters to those partitions. And optical drives, first CD and
    > then DVD; these usually used disks with only a single partition, but
    > multiple partitions on these disks are quite possible and sometimes exist.
    >
    > And then came USB, with its flash drives and card readers and other
    > devices, along with network drives, and all of these are eligible to be
    > assigned "drive" letters.
    >
    > Left to its own devices, Windows Vista Setup assigns the letter C: to its
    > own "boot volume" and then assigns the letter D: to the "system volume",
    > if it is not the same as the boot volume. (See KB314470
    > () for the
    > counterintuitive definitions of these two terms, "system volume" and "boot
    > volume"; it is very important to get them straight in your mind.) After
    > that, it assigns letters to other partitions and devices, generally in
    > sequence, but with certain exceptions built into the operating system.
    > The boot and system volume letters are assigned at the beginning, by
    > Setup.exe, and can't be changed except by running Setup again - that is,
    > by reinstalling Vista.
    >
    > All the other drive letters can be assigned and reassigned by an
    > Administrator. Just run the built-in utility, Disk Management. (There
    > are several ways to launch Disk Management; I prefer to press Start, type
    > "diskmgmt.msc" and press Enter.) Here, after studying the layout for a
    > few minutes, it becomes pretty obvious how to do most jobs. To change
    > your USB stick from D: to U:, for example, just right-click on Drive D:
    > and choose "Change drive letter and paths..." The Wizard will guide you
    > to select from the list of unused letters. Once you've "vacated" the
    > letter D:, you can - if you choose - right-click on your Drive E: and
    > change it to D:. (There is no requirement to use them in sequence, so I
    > like to choose mnemonic letters to help me remember.)
    >
    > In the top part of Disk Management (the Volume List), widen the Status
    > column so that you can read it, then look for the labels "System" and
    > "Boot". There should be ONE of each and they MAY both be on the same
    > partition. The letter or letters for these partitions cannot be changed,
    > but all the others are fair game. Once you have explicitly assigned a
    > letter in Disk Management, the system will attempt to use that same letter
    > each time you plug in your USB drive or other device, rather than simply
    > assigning "the next available letter" each time.
    >
    > Disk Management was introduced in Windows 2000, almost 10 years ago, and
    > it quickly became one of my favorite features.
    >
    > RC
    > --
    > R. C. White, CPA
    > San Marcos, TX
    >
    rc@grandecom.net
    > Microsoft Windows MVP
    > Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8064.0206) in Win7 Ultimate x64
    >
    > "KRK" <trebor@yeleek.nospam.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
    > news:eVVCJ71FKHA.4316@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...<!--coloro:green--><span style="color:green <!--/coloro-->
    >> Hello,
    >>
    >> I find it mildly annoying and somtimes confusing that my hard drive is
    >> split into C: and E:, and an external drive (eg a usb stick) is called D:
    >>
    >> I understand that there are historical reasons for this.
    >>
    >> Is there any point in trying to re-assign the drive letters (and if so,
    >> how? ) or would it cause more trouble than it's worth ?
    >>
    >> Thanks
    >>
    >> K<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
    > <!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
     
  5. R. C. White

    R. C. White Guest

    Hi, KRK.

    Please read my post again. As I said:
    <!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro--><!--coloro:green--><span style="color:green <!--/coloro-->
    >> Once you have explicitly assigned a letter in Disk Management, the system
    >> will attempt to use that same letter each time you plug in your USB drive
    >> or other device, rather than simply assigning "the next available letter"
    >> each time.<!--colorc--><!--/colorc--><!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->

    So your Drive U: should always be Drive U: - until YOU change it,
    accidentally or on purpose.

    And it's not the port that is becoming Drive U:, it's the flash drive. Plug
    the flash drive into a different port and it should still be Drive U:.

    RC
    --
    R. C. White, CPA
    San Marcos, TX
    rc@grandecom.net
    Microsoft Windows MVP
    Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8064.0206) in Win7 Ultimate x64

    "KRK" <trebor@yeleek.nospam.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
    news:OmXxem2FKHA.3392@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
    > Hi,
    >
    > Thanks for this!
    >
    > Does that mean that if I reset my usb port to U:, it will always be U:, or
    > do I have to do it every time I login ?
    >
    > Thanks again
    >
    > KK
    >
    >
    > "R. C. White" <rc@grandecom.net> wrote in message
    > news:ukFEIg2FKHA.4316@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...<!--coloro:green--><span style="color:green <!--/coloro-->
    >> Hi, KRK.
    >>
    >> It's part history, part operating system - and part controllable by you.
    >>
    >> In the olden days (in 1977, when I got my first TRS-80), there were NO
    >> disk drives. Then we got a single floppy drive, which became Drive A:.
    >> Then we added a second floppy, Drive B:. My computer grew to 4 floppies,
    >> but 2 was the standard. And then came those humongous 5 MB hard drives!
    >> MS-DOS (Microsoft DISK Operating System) reserved the A: and B: for the
    >> standard 2 floppies and assigned the letter C: to the hard drive. And
    >> that's the way it was for a few years.
    >>
    >> And then we went wild! We learned to divide a single hard disk into
    >> multiple partitions. Rather than call them Partition C: and Partition
    >> D:, the DOS called them Drive C: and Drive D: - and the name still sticks
    >> today, inviting confusion. The letters C:, D: - and X: - do not apply to
    >> the entire physical drive, but to a partition on the drive, even if there
    >> is only a single partition and it includes the entire drive. Then we
    >> added a second HDD - and maybe more - and partitioned them and assigned
    >> "drive" letters to those partitions. And optical drives, first CD and
    >> then DVD; these usually used disks with only a single partition, but
    >> multiple partitions on these disks are quite possible and sometimes
    >> exist.
    >>
    >> And then came USB, with its flash drives and card readers and other
    >> devices, along with network drives, and all of these are eligible to be
    >> assigned "drive" letters.
    >>
    >> Left to its own devices, Windows Vista Setup assigns the letter C: to its
    >> own "boot volume" and then assigns the letter D: to the "system volume",
    >> if it is not the same as the boot volume. (See KB314470
    >> () for the
    >> counterintuitive definitions of these two terms, "system volume" and
    >> "boot volume"; it is very important to get them straight in your mind.)
    >> After that, it assigns letters to other partitions and devices, generally
    >> in sequence, but with certain exceptions built into the operating system.
    >> The boot and system volume letters are assigned at the beginning, by
    >> Setup.exe, and can't be changed except by running Setup again - that is,
    >> by reinstalling Vista.
    >>
    >> All the other drive letters can be assigned and reassigned by an
    >> Administrator. Just run the built-in utility, Disk Management. (There
    >> are several ways to launch Disk Management; I prefer to press Start, type
    >> "diskmgmt.msc" and press Enter.) Here, after studying the layout for a
    >> few minutes, it becomes pretty obvious how to do most jobs. To change
    >> your USB stick from D: to U:, for example, just right-click on Drive D:
    >> and choose "Change drive letter and paths..." The Wizard will guide you
    >> to select from the list of unused letters. Once you've "vacated" the
    >> letter D:, you can - if you choose - right-click on your Drive E: and
    >> change it to D:. (There is no requirement to use them in sequence, so I
    >> like to choose mnemonic letters to help me remember.)
    >>
    >> In the top part of Disk Management (the Volume List), widen the Status
    >> column so that you can read it, then look for the labels "System" and
    >> "Boot". There should be ONE of each and they MAY both be on the same
    >> partition. The letter or letters for these partitions cannot be changed,
    >> but all the others are fair game. Once you have explicitly assigned a
    >> letter in Disk Management, the system will attempt to use that same
    >> letter each time you plug in your USB drive or other device, rather than
    >> simply assigning "the next available letter" each time.
    >>
    >> Disk Management was introduced in Windows 2000, almost 10 years ago, and
    >> it quickly became one of my favorite features.
    >>
    >> RC
    >>
    >> "KRK" <trebor@yeleek.nospam.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
    >> news:eVVCJ71FKHA.4316@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...<!--coloro:darkred--><span style="color:darkred <!--/coloro-->
    >>> Hello,
    >>>
    >>> I find it mildly annoying and somtimes confusing that my hard drive is
    >>> split into C: and E:, and an external drive (eg a usb stick) is called
    >>> D:
    >>>
    >>> I understand that there are historical reasons for this.
    >>>
    >>> Is there any point in trying to re-assign the drive letters (and if so,
    >>> how? ) or would it cause more trouble than it's worth ?
    >>>
    >>> Thanks
    >>>
    >>> K <!--colorc--><!--/colorc--><!--colorc--><!--/colorc--><!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
     
  6. KRK

    KRK Guest

    Re: A,B,C,.... Disk Drives - Thanks again

    Thanks again,

    This has really helped. By simply labelling the usb stick as U: I find the
    chance of confusing my drives is much reduced.

    Your advice....""And it's not the port that is becoming Drive U:, it's the
    flash drive. Plug the flash drive into a different port and it should still
    be Drive U:. " was the key to my understanding.

    Thanks

    K





    "R. C. White" <rc@grandecom.net> wrote in message
    news:OaHeTv2FKHA.4432@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
    > Hi, KRK.
    >
    > Please read my post again. As I said:
    ><!--coloro:green--><span style="color:green <!--/coloro--><!--coloro:darkred--><span style="color:darkred <!--/coloro-->
    >>> Once you have explicitly assigned a letter in Disk Management, the
    >>> system will attempt to use that same letter each time you plug in your
    >>> USB drive or other device, rather than simply assigning "the next
    >>> available letter" each time.<!--colorc--><!--/colorc--><!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
    >
    > So your Drive U: should always be Drive U: - until YOU change it,
    > accidentally or on purpose.
    >
    > And it's not the port that is becoming Drive U:, it's the flash drive.
    > Plug the flash drive into a different port and it should still be Drive
    > U:.
    >
    > RC
    > --
    > R. C. White, CPA
    > San Marcos, TX
    > rc@grandecom.net
    > Microsoft Windows MVP
    > Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8064.0206) in Win7 Ultimate x64
    >
    > "KRK" <trebor@yeleek.nospam.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
    > news:OmXxem2FKHA.3392@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...<!--coloro:green--><span style="color:green <!--/coloro-->
    >> Hi,
    >>
    >> Thanks for this!
    >>
    >> Does that mean that if I reset my usb port to U:, it will always be U:,
    >> or do I have to do it every time I login ?
    >>
    >> Thanks again
    >>
    >> KK
    >>
    >>
    >> "R. C. White" <rc@grandecom.net> wrote in message
    >> news:ukFEIg2FKHA.4316@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...<!--coloro:darkred--><span style="color:darkred <!--/coloro-->
    >>> Hi, KRK.
    >>>
    >>> It's part history, part operating system - and part controllable by you.
    >>>
    >>> In the olden days (in 1977, when I got my first TRS-80), there were NO
    >>> disk drives. Then we got a single floppy drive, which became Drive A:.
    >>> Then we added a second floppy, Drive B:. My computer grew to 4
    >>> floppies, but 2 was the standard. And then came those humongous 5 MB
    >>> hard drives! MS-DOS (Microsoft DISK Operating System) reserved the A:
    >>> and B: for the standard 2 floppies and assigned the letter C: to the
    >>> hard drive. And that's the way it was for a few years.
    >>>
    >>> And then we went wild! We learned to divide a single hard disk into
    >>> multiple partitions. Rather than call them Partition C: and Partition
    >>> D:, the DOS called them Drive C: and Drive D: - and the name still
    >>> sticks today, inviting confusion. The letters C:, D: - and X: - do not
    >>> apply to the entire physical drive, but to a partition on the drive,
    >>> even if there is only a single partition and it includes the entire
    >>> drive. Then we added a second HDD - and maybe more - and partitioned
    >>> them and assigned "drive" letters to those partitions. And optical
    >>> drives, first CD and then DVD; these usually used disks with only a
    >>> single partition, but multiple partitions on these disks are quite
    >>> possible and sometimes exist.
    >>>
    >>> And then came USB, with its flash drives and card readers and other
    >>> devices, along with network drives, and all of these are eligible to be
    >>> assigned "drive" letters.
    >>>
    >>> Left to its own devices, Windows Vista Setup assigns the letter C: to
    >>> its own "boot volume" and then assigns the letter D: to the "system
    >>> volume", if it is not the same as the boot volume. (See KB314470
    >>> () for the
    >>> counterintuitive definitions of these two terms, "system volume" and
    >>> "boot volume"; it is very important to get them straight in your mind.)
    >>> After that, it assigns letters to other partitions and devices,
    >>> generally in sequence, but with certain exceptions built into the
    >>> operating system. The boot and system volume letters are assigned at the
    >>> beginning, by Setup.exe, and can't be changed except by running Setup
    >>> again - that is, by reinstalling Vista.
    >>>
    >>> All the other drive letters can be assigned and reassigned by an
    >>> Administrator. Just run the built-in utility, Disk Management. (There
    >>> are several ways to launch Disk Management; I prefer to press Start,
    >>> type "diskmgmt.msc" and press Enter.) Here, after studying the layout
    >>> for a few minutes, it becomes pretty obvious how to do most jobs. To
    >>> change your USB stick from D: to U:, for example, just right-click on
    >>> Drive D: and choose "Change drive letter and paths..." The Wizard will
    >>> guide you to select from the list of unused letters. Once you've
    >>> "vacated" the letter D:, you can - if you choose - right-click on your
    >>> Drive E: and change it to D:. (There is no requirement to use them in
    >>> sequence, so I like to choose mnemonic letters to help me remember.)
    >>>
    >>> In the top part of Disk Management (the Volume List), widen the Status
    >>> column so that you can read it, then look for the labels "System" and
    >>> "Boot". There should be ONE of each and they MAY both be on the same
    >>> partition. The letter or letters for these partitions cannot be
    >>> changed, but all the others are fair game. Once you have explicitly
    >>> assigned a letter in Disk Management, the system will attempt to use
    >>> that same letter each time you plug in your USB drive or other device,
    >>> rather than simply assigning "the next available letter" each time.
    >>>
    >>> Disk Management was introduced in Windows 2000, almost 10 years ago, and
    >>> it quickly became one of my favorite features.
    >>>
    >>> RC
    >>>
    >>> "KRK" <trebor@yeleek.nospam.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
    >>> news:eVVCJ71FKHA.4316@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
    >>>> Hello,
    >>>>
    >>>> I find it mildly annoying and somtimes confusing that my hard drive is
    >>>> split into C: and E:, and an external drive (eg a usb stick) is called
    >>>> D:
    >>>>
    >>>> I understand that there are historical reasons for this.
    >>>>
    >>>> Is there any point in trying to re-assign the drive letters (and if so,
    >>>> how? ) or would it cause more trouble than it's worth ?
    >>>>
    >>>> Thanks
    >>>>
    >>>> K<!--colorc--><!--/colorc--><!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
    > <!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
     
  7. R. C. White

    R. C. White Guest

    Re: A,B,C,.... Disk Drives - Thanks again

    Hi, KRK.

    You're welcome, and thanks for the feedback. It's nice when I get one right
    now and then. ;<}

    RC
    --
    R. C. White, CPA
    San Marcos, TX
    rc@grandecom.net
    Microsoft Windows MVP
    Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8064.0206) in Win7 Ultimate x64

    "KRK" <trebor@yeleek.nospam.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
    news:#CN0plbGKHA.2516@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
    > Thanks again,
    >
    > This has really helped. By simply labelling the usb stick as U: I find
    > the chance of confusing my drives is much reduced.
    >
    > Your advice....""And it's not the port that is becoming Drive U:, it's the
    > flash drive. Plug the flash drive into a different port and it should
    > still be Drive U:. " was the key to my understanding.
    >
    > Thanks
    >
    > K
    >
    >
    > "R. C. White" <rc@grandecom.net> wrote in message
    > news:OaHeTv2FKHA.4432@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...<!--coloro:green--><span style="color:green <!--/coloro-->
    >> Hi, KRK.
    >>
    >> Please read my post again. As I said:
    >><!--coloro:darkred--><span style="color:darkred <!--/coloro-->
    >>>> Once you have explicitly assigned a letter in Disk Management, the
    >>>> system will attempt to use that same letter each time you plug in your
    >>>> USB drive or other device, rather than simply assigning "the next
    >>>> available letter" each time.<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
    >>
    >> So your Drive U: should always be Drive U: - until YOU change it,
    >> accidentally or on purpose.
    >>
    >> And it's not the port that is becoming Drive U:, it's the flash drive.
    >> Plug the flash drive into a different port and it should still be Drive
    >> U:.
    >>
    >> RC
    >>
    >> "KRK" <trebor@yeleek.nospam.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
    >> news:OmXxem2FKHA.3392@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...<!--coloro:darkred--><span style="color:darkred <!--/coloro-->
    >>> Hi,
    >>>
    >>> Thanks for this!
    >>>
    >>> Does that mean that if I reset my usb port to U:, it will always be U:,
    >>> or do I have to do it every time I login ?
    >>>
    >>> Thanks again
    >>>
    >>> KK
    >>>
    >>>
    >>> "R. C. White" <rc@grandecom.net> wrote in message
    >>> news:ukFEIg2FKHA.4316@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
    >>>> Hi, KRK.
    >>>>
    >>>> It's part history, part operating system - and part controllable by
    >>>> you.
    >>>>
    >>>> In the olden days (in 1977, when I got my first TRS-80), there were NO
    >>>> disk drives. Then we got a single floppy drive, which became Drive A:.
    >>>> Then we added a second floppy, Drive B:. My computer grew to 4
    >>>> floppies, but 2 was the standard. And then came those humongous 5 MB
    >>>> hard drives! MS-DOS (Microsoft DISK Operating System) reserved the A:
    >>>> and B: for the standard 2 floppies and assigned the letter C: to the
    >>>> hard drive. And that's the way it was for a few years.
    >>>>
    >>>> And then we went wild! We learned to divide a single hard disk into
    >>>> multiple partitions. Rather than call them Partition C: and Partition
    >>>> D:, the DOS called them Drive C: and Drive D: - and the name still
    >>>> sticks today, inviting confusion. The letters C:, D: - and X: - do not
    >>>> apply to the entire physical drive, but to a partition on the drive,
    >>>> even if there is only a single partition and it includes the entire
    >>>> drive. Then we added a second HDD - and maybe more - and partitioned
    >>>> them and assigned "drive" letters to those partitions. And optical
    >>>> drives, first CD and then DVD; these usually used disks with only a
    >>>> single partition, but multiple partitions on these disks are quite
    >>>> possible and sometimes exist.
    >>>>
    >>>> And then came USB, with its flash drives and card readers and other
    >>>> devices, along with network drives, and all of these are eligible to be
    >>>> assigned "drive" letters.
    >>>>
    >>>> Left to its own devices, Windows Vista Setup assigns the letter C: to
    >>>> its own "boot volume" and then assigns the letter D: to the "system
    >>>> volume", if it is not the same as the boot volume. (See KB314470
    >>>> () for the
    >>>> counterintuitive definitions of these two terms, "system volume" and
    >>>> "boot volume"; it is very important to get them straight in your mind.)
    >>>> After that, it assigns letters to other partitions and devices,
    >>>> generally in sequence, but with certain exceptions built into the
    >>>> operating system. The boot and system volume letters are assigned at
    >>>> the beginning, by Setup.exe, and can't be changed except by running
    >>>> Setup again - that is, by reinstalling Vista.
    >>>>
    >>>> All the other drive letters can be assigned and reassigned by an
    >>>> Administrator. Just run the built-in utility, Disk Management. (There
    >>>> are several ways to launch Disk Management; I prefer to press Start,
    >>>> type "diskmgmt.msc" and press Enter.) Here, after studying the layout
    >>>> for a few minutes, it becomes pretty obvious how to do most jobs. To
    >>>> change your USB stick from D: to U:, for example, just right-click on
    >>>> Drive D: and choose "Change drive letter and paths..." The Wizard will
    >>>> guide you to select from the list of unused letters. Once you've
    >>>> "vacated" the letter D:, you can - if you choose - right-click on your
    >>>> Drive E: and change it to D:. (There is no requirement to use them in
    >>>> sequence, so I like to choose mnemonic letters to help me remember.)
    >>>>
    >>>> In the top part of Disk Management (the Volume List), widen the Status
    >>>> column so that you can read it, then look for the labels "System" and
    >>>> "Boot". There should be ONE of each and they MAY both be on the same
    >>>> partition. The letter or letters for these partitions cannot be
    >>>> changed, but all the others are fair game. Once you have explicitly
    >>>> assigned a letter in Disk Management, the system will attempt to use
    >>>> that same letter each time you plug in your USB drive or other device,
    >>>> rather than simply assigning "the next available letter" each time.
    >>>>
    >>>> Disk Management was introduced in Windows 2000, almost 10 years ago,
    >>>> and it quickly became one of my favorite features.
    >>>>
    >>>> RC
    >>>>
    >>>> "KRK" <trebor@yeleek.nospam.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
    >>>> news:eVVCJ71FKHA.4316@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
    >>>>> Hello,
    >>>>>
    >>>>> I find it mildly annoying and somtimes confusing that my hard drive is
    >>>>> split into C: and E:, and an external drive (eg a usb stick) is called
    >>>>> D:
    >>>>>
    >>>>> I understand that there are historical reasons for this.
    >>>>>
    >>>>> Is there any point in trying to re-assign the drive letters (and if
    >>>>> so, how? ) or would it cause more trouble than it's worth ?
    >>>>>
    >>>>> Thanks
    >>>>>
    >>>>> K <!--colorc--><!--/colorc--><!--colorc--><!--/colorc--><!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
     

Share This Page