Resolved Unable to rename hard drive partition

The C: partition on my primary hard drive contains only the OS (64-bit Win7 Pro SP1). It has been named SYSTEM ever since the installation of the OS. Recently, for reasons unknown, the SYSTEM name has disappeared, and the partition shows up in Windows Explorer as "Local Disk ". Try as I might, I am unable to restore the SYSTEM name (and, I have no System Restore points dating prior to this happening).

Strangely enough, the partition shows the name SYSTEM in Disk Management and in Windows Safe Mode.

Any thoughts on how to restore the name in normal mode?

 

Hey Jim, long time no talk....

I have Mini Tool Partition wizard home addition (free) and I just used it to change the name of my c: drive from ACER to OS.
Rebooted so it could change C: because it was being used and it worked ...

Bill

www.partitionwizard.com/download.html

 

Sometimes I found this issues on windows server 2003 R2 also. This issue might be resolved by running "chkdsk" on the affected partition.

Try to go to disk management and run the check.

 

I'm sorry to have taken so long to reply, but I was adversely affected by Superstorm Sandy. I lost power last Monday afternoon (Oct. 29th) and didn't get it back until Thursday night. Unfortunately, my cable service, which provides TV, telephone, and internet, wasn't restored until sometime last night. Lots of trees and power lines down in my area, but no flooding. The major concern right now is the short supply of gasoline, but that should be fixed within a day or two.

Thank you all for your suggestions. Unfortunately, none of them work. As I already mentioned in my OP, the partition shows the SYSTEM label in Disk Management, Windows Safe Mode, and while using Acronis Disk Director. In all of them I am able to give it another name (such as OS 7) and, after rebooting, the name is retained in all three. In Windows Normal Mode, however, the partition still shows as "Local Disk" and cannot be renamed.

Short of formatting the partition and reinstalling all of my programs (which I'm not about to do), I guess I'm stuck.

 

Did you try the LABEL command?

 

Yes ... no effect.

 

Jim,
The easy way for me was to open Windows Explorer, Rt click on C drive and go to properties. Opens on general tab with the drive name highlighted. Type your new name and works instantly and remains after the next boot.

If that doesn't work, I don't know....

 

Hi Bill,

It should work, I grant you, but it doesn't on that specific partition. NOTHING seems to work in what I call Windows Normal Mode.

 

Jim

I had just remembered a settting that would affect the display of drive letters.
You may try to check this option if it could help.

1.) Open windows explorer
2.) Press Alt-T to open folder options
3.) Click the view tab
4.) Scroll down the list and then select the Show drive letter option if it is not marked.

 

Drive letters aren't the issue ... they display just fine.

32-bit Win 7 HP was originally pre-installed on my custom-built desktop, but last July I formatted the C: partition and installed 64-bit Win 7 Pro. At that time C: was labled SYSTEM (so, apparently, I had the necessary permissions) and it was only a couple of weeks ago that the SYSTEM label disappeared and the "Local Disk" designation took its place.

In any event, using the LABEL command in an elevated command prompt doesn't work, either.

 

Temporarily hook it up to another system and change the label.

?

 

I've done a complete scan of the C: partition with MS Security Essentials, Anti-Malware, Spyware Doctor, SUPERAntiSpyware Pro, and Spyware S&D; all report that the partition is clean. I've run chkdisk and scannow, but the situation remains the same. A search of the partition turns up only two autorun.inf files, and neither one is on the root of the partition.

What's baffling to me is that the partition label is displayed as SYSTEM in every way the partition can be accessed except in normal mode Windows Explorer. Even Windows Safe Mode Windows Explorer displays it as SYSTEM.

Equally baffling is the fact that I can change the label from SYSTEM to something like OS 7 in Disk Management or Safe Mode, and the change will show up everywhere except normal mode Windows Explorer, which continues to display "Local Disk ". As the king said in The King and I, "Is a puzzlement! ".

Doc, I didn't mean to ignore your suggestion in this reply. Unfortunately, I have no access to another system to give it a try.

 

Hi Tony,

Thanks for the info, but is it possible that you left out a level? After drilling through the levels listed, I found NO explorer.exe in the left pane ... just more folders. I looked through those which could be expanded further, but still found no explorer.exe.

So, I'm still in the same boat as before.

 

With a little help from Steve I was able to get the job done.

Actually, all I had to do was the last couple of steps in Tony's "tutorial ", as everything down to, and including, drive letter C was already in place. After closing RegEdit and reopening Windows Explorer, voilà! C: had been renamed SYSTEM.