Change hard drive letter in Windows XP for a knowledgeable person it will not be difficult, so I am writing for those who do not yet know.
In my work to eliminate the causes of computer malfunctions, I often encountered a problem when employees insert a flash drive into the USB connector of the system unit, and a letter is not assigned to it. More precisely, a letter is assigned to the flash drive, but a network drive (for example, F: \\) is already attached to this letter, as a result of this, the flash drive does not appear in Windows XP Explorer. You have to change the drive letter assigned to the flash drive to an unoccupied one. This can be done in two ways.
The first way to change the hard drive letter
Thus, you can change the letters of all drives, except for the one on which Windows is installed. This is usually the C: \\ drive. But there is a way to change the letter of the system drive.
The second way to change the drive letter
This can be done in the Windows system registry. Without a special need for poorly versed people to do this not recommended, as this can cause malfunction of the computer and loss of information on.
Before making any changes to the registry, it is recommended to make a copy of it (in the registry editor: File -\u003e Export) and a backup of the system state and data on the computer.
In this article, I will describe step by step how to change drive letter in Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8... This does not require any additional utilities and programs, everything is done using standard Windows tools. In this example, I will change the drive letter from "G" to "D" (the drive can be renamed to any free letter).
Note: You cannot change the drive letter where the Windows operating system is installed. Usually it is installed on the drive letter "C".
On shortcut My Computer / Computer / This Computer (depends on the installed operating system Windows XP / Windows 7 / Windows 8) right-click and select " Control". The" Computer Management "window will open. If for some reason this method does not work, the" Computer Management "window can be opened in another way, click" Start "-" Control Panel "-" Administrative Tools "-" Computer Management "(in version Windows 8, you need to right-click in the lower left corner and select "Control Panel" - "Administrative Tools" - "Computer Management", in Windows 8.1, right-click on the "Start" button and select "Control Panel" - "Administrative Tools" - "Computer Management").
In the Computer Management window, click "Disk Management", select the drive you want to change the name of, right-click on it and select "Change drive letter or drive path ..."
In the window that opens, select the disk and click the "Change" button.
Select an available drive letter.
After that, you will see another message stating that when you change the letter, some applications will not be available, click "Yes".
In this article I will show you how to change a drive letter without using any programs or utilities. Of course, there are special software methods, but we can do without them now. The method that I will tell you about is suitable for Windows XP, Windows 7 and other operating systems.
Why change the drive letter? There can be many reasons for this. Perhaps the system missed some letter, and you are not satisfied when, say, first there is disk D, and then, instead of E, immediately F (for example, such a mess makes me nervous). Or it will be necessary if the system has assigned the same letter to two different drives (this also happens). One of them will not work correctly. I even considered this case in ways of solving the problem when.
So, whatever the motivation, here's a guide on how to change the drive letter. I am showing using Windows XP as an example. On some other OS, everything will be about the same, you can figure it out from my pictures.
How to change the drive letter
To change the drive letter, follow the instructions below.
- Click "Start" and select "Run" (or the keyboard shortcut win + R).
- Enter "diskmgmt.msc" in the window that opens (without quotes), and click "OK".
Run "Disk Management" - In the "Disk Management" window that opens, right-click on the required disk and select "Change drive letter or path to disk".
Change the drive letter - Now another window has opened, in which you need to click the "Change" button and from the drop-down list select the letter that you want to assign to this disk. Then click the "OK" button.
Change the drive letter - A warning appears that changing the drive letter will cause some programs to fail to start. Here we agree and click "Yes" (other warnings may appear, they also need to be agreed).
Change the drive letter
You should now see that the drive letter has changed.
Before changing the drive letter, remember two things: first, you cannot change the letter of the drive on which Windows is installed (usually it is drive C); and secondly, if some programs are installed on the disk whose letter you are changing, then they may not work or work incorrectly after this operation (as you were warned in the messages). You can fix this by rebooting, and if it does not work, reinstalling software that does not work.
All shortcuts that previously pointed to this drive will also not work. However, such problems are rarely encountered, since programs and shortcuts are rarely installed on non-system drives.
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In this article, I will detail how to change the drive letter in different versions of Windows operating systems. XP, 7 and 8 will be considered. In principle, all 3 cases are somewhat similar to each other. However, there are still small differences.
Windows XP
Let's talk about Windows XP first. The first thing to do is log on to the system with an account that has administrator rights. Next, go to the "Start" menu, select "Control Panel" there.
Then we click on the item "Performance and maintenance".
A window will appear in which we click on "Administration", after which you need to double-click on the line "Computer management".
On the left side of the screen, you will see a kind of panel with a number of available functions. There we need to select the item we need, namely - "Disk Management".
This completes our journey to the place in Windows XP where you can change the drive letter. It remains only to select the drive you need, right-click on it and select the line titled "Change drive letter or path to drive" in the drop-down menu.
To specify your letter, click "Change".
As a result, the user is offered a choice of all letters of the Latin alphabet from A to Z. Select the desired letter and click "OK".
A confirmation window opens again in front of us, in which you just need to click on the "Yes" button.
Done! Congratulations, you have changed the local drive letter in Windows XP.
Windows 7
However, not all modern users currently have a computer equipped with the Windows XP operating system. Many have switched to the Windows 7 generation, so it would be advisable to write detailed instructions on changing the drive letter for this system as well.
In principle, the process is practically no different from XP, with the exception of some changes in the way of opening the final menu that displays local drives. Still, how do you change the drive letter of Windows 7? Let's analyze in more detail.
First, you need to open the well-known "Start" menu - in the lower left corner of the screen and select "Control Panel".
Now click "Administration".
Then you should double-click on the "Computer Management" line. There is an important point here. If the administrator account has a password, you will be prompted to enter it, otherwise you will not be able to continue this operation. This is done so that an ordinary user cannot make any changes without the supervision of an administrator.
After all the above operations, a window appears in which you will need to select the item: "Disk Management".
Next, a list of all drives appears. From this point on, the process is no different from Windows XP. We right-click on the local disk we are interested in and in the drop-down window select the line: "Change the drive letter or path to the disk". Press the button "Change".
Choose the appropriate letter from A to Z, and click "OK".
A message will appear reminding you that the programs on this disk may stop working. Click "Yes".
Congratulations, you have successfully changed your hard drive letter in Windows 7.
Windows 8
Technological progress is steadily continuing to go forward with huge strides. Hundreds of new gadgets, games and programs appear every year. Microsoft is also keeping up with the global trend of the 21st century, and not so long ago a completely new operating system called Windows 8 was released. Many people around the world are gradually switching to this system. What should they do in a situation when it is necessary to urgently change the letter of the local drive? Indeed, despite the fact that Windows 8 is just a slightly improved version of Windows 7, it no longer has the usual "Start" menu. Although it can be returned, I will talk about this in detail in another article.
To change the letter in Windows 8, you need to log in as an administrator.
Windows 8 has two interfaces - Tiled and Standard Desktop. Our task is to launch the control panel, after which it is necessary to repeat the steps as in the situation with Windows 7. In the tiled interface, it is enough to start typing the phrase “Control Panel” on the keyboard. As soon as you start typing the text, the system will automatically search for applications and it will appear in the first place in front of you.
It can also be launched from the desktop. We transfer the mouse to the lower right corner, wait a couple of seconds until the side menu opens. Click on "Options".
When you used one of the methods to open the Control Panel, all the same steps follow as in Windows 7, namely: "Administrative Tools", "Computer Management", "Disk Management". Right-click, select "Change drive letter or drive path".
Select the desired letter and confirm the changes by clicking on the "OK" button. Done!
How to change the drive letter - you know, now it remains to make changes on your computer. As you have already seen, there is nothing difficult, you only need to do it once to remember this procedure.
It should be noted that you can go to "Disk Management" even faster. To do this, right-click on the computer on the desktop and select "Control", if the computer is not on the desktop, then you can go to Start (it is definitely there). Next, select "Management".
That's all for today, see you soon!
operating system Windows, in my opinion, is the most flexible and intuitive operating system, however, in spite of this, I am aware that there are a lot of controversial points in it, in particular those who are concerned with setting it up. Sometimes when you need to do minor changes or take a couple of actions in this OS, you may encounter hours of searching for the required parameters or options, since the developers did not consider it necessary place them in a prominent place and make life easier for users. One of these settings is ability to change drive letterinstalled in the computer. And now I'm talking about it i'll tell you in detail.
Background
When I had stationary computer, it was installed somewhere six hard drives of different sizes... And this was extremely convenient, since in total I had memory in ten terabytes... But the only thing that made me sad when you start your computer for the first time with all media installed, this is that they got their letters on the system in a completely messy way... So, the most capacious could have the first letters alphabet, and those that less subsequent.
What's the problem? In fact there was no problem, it's just that I'm used to keeping everything in a more or less logical orderthat's why such chaos in my computer it hurt my eyes... And in the end I just took and swapped all available discsby changing their letters and placing from less volume to more... On this my "problems" were exhausted, but much more interesting how I got rid of them.
How do I change the drive letter?
To begin with, you should understand that changing the drive letter on which at least one program is installed, will disrupt its work, since the path along which it was added to the system, will cease to exist. Therefore, if something like this happened, then the only way return her previous state - reinstallation... Therefore, I am extremely do not recommend make such changes if the disk is used for a long time and it has a large number of programs you need installed.
The very same change drive letter does not represent anything complicated. First you need to go on the following path:
- "Start" menu - "Control Panel" - "Administrative Tools" - "Computer Management" - "Disk Management"
As soon as the window will load and you will see a list of drives with their assigned letters, you can start setting up. To do this, click on the disk right click and select the item " Change drive letter or drive path ...", then press the button" Edit"and on the right side of the window click on the letterwhich will deploy list of all possible options... When you make your choice, click " OK", answer the question" Yes"and your disk will receive new letter, which means that its place in the hierarchy will change " Explorer ".
When in front of you disc list appears, there is a high probability that those will appear in it, the existence of which you didn't even know... These discs you can't touch! In fact, these are sections in which backup files are stored for system recovery and other operationswhich are included in the computer by the manufacturer. Most often, these sections are present in devices assembled in factories under the trademark of any famous brandso it is desirable do not touch them at allso as not to disrupt your computer. In the same devices which you collected yourself, similar sections will not be, so worry about this in this case not worth it.
If the letter you wanted to use busy, then first you should free her, by changing the value of the disk that occupies it... Just make sure that this the disk is not key for the computer and you can change its location.
In addition to discs, you can change drive letter, which also has it and is displayed in " Explorer". I usually assign it in the last place, to the very first of the remaining free letters.
NEVER change the C drive letter! This disc is fundamental, so any changes to it will lead to very bad consequences, in particular, to the failure of the computer.
Now we can!
That's all. On this this extremely short and simple instruction ends. Yes, I understand that few people can use it, but what if there are more people who want to use it, after they find out that similar can be implemented? Well, what if?
