Urgent! Windows partition changed it's letter and now I can't change it back!

T

t0x1k

Gawd
Joined
Aug 1, 2003
Messages
678
I just repaired windows and now the windows partition is the G: drive instead of the C:. I need to change this because it's screwing up program installations!
How do I change it back!?
 
no idea. if your copy of windows isnt warez call ms tech support, its what they are there for...
 
shouldnt you be able to use something like a trial of partition magic? or search for some other drive management proggy.
 
t0x1k said:
I just repaired windows and now the windows partition is the G: drive instead of the C:. I need to change this because it's screwing up program installations!
How do I change it back!?
Click to expand...
If you find out how to do this please let me know as I've got this problem too, although I've lived with it forever.
 
I got this from the micrsoft support site: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;223188

1. Make a full system backup of the computer and system state.
2. Log on as an Administrator.
3. Start Regedt32.exe.
4. Go to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices
5. Click MountedDevices.
6. On the Security menu, click Permissions.
7. Verify that Administrators have full control. Change this back when you are finished with these steps.
8. Quit Regedt32.exe, and then start Regedit.exe.
9. Locate the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices
10. Find the drive letter you want to change to (new). Look for "\DosDevices\C:".
11. Right-click \DosDevices\C:, and then click Rename.

Note You must use Regedit instead of Regedt32 to rename this registry key.
12. Rename it to an unused drive letter "\DosDevices\Z:".

This frees up drive letter C.
13. Find the drive letter you want changed. Look for "\DosDevices\D:".
14. Right-click \DosDevices\D:, and then click Rename.
15. Rename it to the appropriate (new) drive letter "\DosDevices\C:".
16. Click the value for \DosDevices\Z:, click Rename, and then name it back to "\DosDevices\D:".
17. Quit Regedit, and then start Regedt32.
18. Change the permissions back to the previous setting for Administrators (this should probably be Read Only).
19. Restart the computer.
 
thats happened to me before when i built a new pc for a client. i had 2 hdds in at the same time when installing windows. i took the other one out, rereformatted, and it was C drive again. if that doesnt work:

*go to control panel
*administrative tools
*computer management
*storage tab
*disk management tab
*right click the G drive
*and click change drive letter and path.

that should work.
 
ePi said:
I got this from the micrsoft support site: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;223188
Click to expand...


this definitely is the way to do it, changing your system drive letter in disk management will not work.

just some trivia FYI.... regedt32.exe and regedit.exe is the same thing in windows xp.... they just integrated the advanced permissions options into the regular regedit utility, so don't be surprised when regedt32 looks just like regedit, you're not doing anything wrong.

also, i have an idea why this happened, and i have a solution..... i discovered that when you install windows on any disk that is NOT the PRIMARY IDE MASTER, and there is a hard disk in the primary master channel, windows will ALWAYS give the primary ide master the drive letter C:, and hand whatever letter is next in line to your disk with windows on it (typically E:, because windows will hand D: to your first available optical drive)

to remedy this, sinc ei install windows on a RAID config, i unplug or disable every hard disk except the ones i am installing to while i'm installing windows. after everything is done and i can boot into windows, i'll plug everything back in. this method also applies to repair-installations.
 
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