Change boot drive letter

[DKTaber]

I recently had to wipe the hard drive of a new computer (Intel mobo, core duo E8400, 500GB Seagate drive) clean because it had developed some problems (like having to reboot after coming out of standby or hibernate), and no system restores or Windows XP repairs did anything. I use a program suggested by J & N computer support, where the custom computer was build. It's called "AEF", which you run from a CD. It destroys the partition on the HD. However, the only option I could find when I ran it was "delall", which deletes all partitions. When I installed Windows, it assigned drive letters to the card readers FIRST, and the HD last. So now my HD is H: and my CD/DVD writer is G: IOW, it assigned the letters in reverse order.

Diskmgmt.msc will not allow you to change the boot drive letter. I would rather not have to destroy the partitions again to get it to make the boot drive C: (how do I do that, anyway when the Windows install disk seems to have a mind of its own?). Is there any commercial software on the market that will allow you to change the boot drive letter?

 

[speed_hog]

The only way I know how is with Partition Magic;
http://img356.imageshack.us/my.php?image=changedriveletterssvp3.png

And an after thought if you turn off PC and remove the card reader then go about renaming the master to C: and then plug them back in later you will have a much easier time of it, As you won't have to first rename the card drives...
Hope this helps

 

[DKTaber]

The only way I know how is with Partition Magic;
http://img356.imageshack.us/my.php?image=changedriveletterssvp3.png

And an after thought if you turn off PC and remove the card reader then go about renaming the master to C: and then plug them back in later you will have a much easier time of it, As you won't have to first rename the card drives...
Hope this helps

Thanks, Tony. I notice that I can always count on hearing from you when I post a question on TSG. After looking up Partition Magic (PM), I have two problems with it.
a. It's now owned by Symantec.
b. In the product description, I didn't see anything that said it could change the boot disk letter, which is really all I want to do.

I used Norton products for years and thought they were great when Peter Norton owned the company. I especially liked Norton SystemWorks, but abandoned it 4+ years ago after seeing each new version come with FEWER, not more, features, and the newer the version, the more it tried to take over your PC. I now use SystemSuite 8 Pro, which does far more, doesn't take over your computer, and costs only $20/yr. to update. Based on feedback on Amazon.com from people who tried the "trial" version of PM, it appears that "trial" is misleading. It's not a trial version; it's a demo that doesn't do anything but show you what the software CAN do if you buy it. That fits with my assessment of Symantec -- dishonest.

I may have to hold my nose and get it, but I'd like to see of others suggest something else.

 

[speed_hog]

Don I agree with you completely
I used to swear by Nortons and used system works 2001-2 for about 3 years after it was released and it worked great for me.
I only use Part Magic when I have to, but I have had to many times and I have not once had a single problem with the version I got. 8.0
I think the problems are when inexperienced users try to use it on a system that already has problems...
I hope someone has a free alternate for sure as this comes up quite a bit.
Peace

 

[DKTaber]

You are, as always, one of two TSG responders that I find especially knowledgeable and gracious. As I say, I may indeed buy PM to avoid having to reload and reconfigure all my other software. . . but only if there is no alternative.

 

[speed_hog]

One would think with the newer version that it would in fact do what you need it to do ?
I have been searching for a way to find and older version that you could download but no luck Grrrr
Wish I could toss mine over the fence for you to barrow
As thats what good neighbors would do

 

[Rich-M]

I don't think PM will do that, at least no version I ever saw would,
There is a registry fix but it is not for the faint hearted.
http://www.tsensus.com/2008/02/fix-an-incorrect-boot-drive-letter-in-windows-xp/