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SATA boot drive designation problem

Discussion in 'Windows XP' started by tmcnabb, 2006/09/28.

  1. 2006/09/28
    tmcnabb

    tmcnabb Inactive Thread Starter

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    I just added a new SATA drive to my XP SP2 machine, unplugging the existing SATA drive, and installed XP on it. It came up fine as the C drive at first. When I plugged the original drive back in to the second SATA port, the new install of XP still booted up fine, but the old drive was now C and new drive was F (after CD/DVD drives), so it booted to F.

    I went into Disk Management and change the old drive from C to G and rebooted. It still showed the new boot drive as F and the old drive as G. I unplugged the old drive and booted up, but the new drive still showed as F. Disk Management won't let me change the boot drive designation.

    How do I get the new drive to become C?
     
    tmcnabb,
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  2. 2006/09/28
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    Hello tmcnabb,
    welcome to WindowsBBS ... :) ... !

    You can change the drive letter of the boot volume in the registry editor.

    Start by learning How to back up, edit, and restore the registry in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003

    Next, follow the instructions in How to restore the system/boot drive letter in Windows

    In short:

    Start > Run > type in: regedit > OK

    Do a search for MountedDevices which will take you to

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices

    Find \DosDevices\C: and rename it to a drive letter which is not in use, such as \DosDevices\Z:

    Find \DosDevices\F: and rename it \DosDevices\C:

    Restart the computer and change the drive letters of the non-boot volumes in DiskManagement.

    Christer
     
    Christer,
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  4. 2006/09/28
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    I forgot to mention that Windows XP does not have regedit32 so when following the instructions (the second link), forget about that part. As long as you are logged in as an administrator you will have the required permissions.

    Christer
     
    Christer,
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  5. 2006/09/28
    tmcnabb

    tmcnabb Inactive Thread Starter

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    Changing the reg caused a problem

    Tried making reg change, but now Windows hangs when I reboot.

    I could just try reloading Windows on the new HD again and see how it goes.
     
    tmcnabb,
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  6. 2006/09/28
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    I don't understand why it happens. If only the new HDD and the optical devices are connected (C,D and E), a fresh installation of XP should not have any other MountedDevices in the registry. When you connect the old HDD, it should get the next free drive letter (F).

    What are your plans for the old HDD? A reformat? If so, with only the old HDD connected (to avoid mistakes) run DELPART to delete the existing partition(s) prior to reconnecting it with the new HDD. When done, connect the new HDD, the old HDD and the optical devices.

    Warning - DELPART removes the partition and all data.

    You will have to recreate and format the partition in Disk Management but then I hope it will become F: and C: will remain unchanged.

    Christer
     
    Christer,
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  7. 2006/09/28
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    I came to think of Dan Goodells webpage on the subject. Scroll down to Method #2 where he says to delete all entries in MountedDevices to force Windows to redetect everything or to Method #3.

    #2 would require the ability to start the computer. Have you tried Safe Mode?

    #3 is done from a Win98 boot disk with FDISK.

    Christer
     
    Christer,
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  8. 2006/09/28
    tmcnabb

    tmcnabb Inactive Thread Starter

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    Thanks for you help.

    I don't understand either, but I decided to do a Windows repair on the new drive. Wiered thing, it kept hanging up in the middle of the repair at the same spot every time. So I've reformatted the new drive and starting over.
    And yes, the old drive will end up getting reformatted, I had just planned to bring it up as a secondary drive first and copy some data over before reformatting.

    I'll see if I run into the same problem the second time around.
     
    tmcnabb,
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  9. 2006/10/02
    tmcnabb

    tmcnabb Inactive Thread Starter

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    Christer,

    Thanks so much for all the help. Too kind.

    After reloading XP (again) on the new drive, I was all set to try your next idea on deleting the reg entries. However, this time when I plugged the old drive back in too, they came up correctly...New drive as C and old drive as D. Don't understand why they didn't do that the first time, but if it happens again I'll know what to try.

    Thanks again,

    Tim
     
    tmcnabb,
    #8
  10. 2006/10/02
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    Glad it worked out for you, the only cause of the previous failure I can think of is ... :eek: ... GREMLINS ... :eek: ... !

    Christer
     
    Christer,
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