OS loaded to wrong drive letter...

[Jeri]

Well shoot...

My 2nd build went well – much faster than my first – which was expected since I used all the same components.

But I do have one issue…

I installed a card reader (along will all my other components) and didn’t notice that my OS loaded to drive H: (since the card reader took up C, E, F, and G).

How do I get the OS back on C:? I don’t mind (too much) if I have to re-format and re-install – but I don’t really know how. From a new build – I’m asked for the OS CD and away I go. But now that the OS is already installed – how do I re-install????

[crjdriver]

1 Disconnect the card reader.
2 Boot with your xp cd.
3 Choose install from the first menu
4 Delete ALL partitions on the disk
5 Create one or more and format with ntfs
6 Windows will continue to load

Once you have the os installed, you can shutdown and reconnect your card reader.

[Kareeser]

1. Press Start
2. Right click "My Computer"
3. Click "Manage"
4. Select "Disk Management" from the list along the left

You can change your drive lettering there. Right click a drive in the bottom right corner, and select "Change Drive Letter and Paths"

[Panama Red]

1. Press Start
2. Right click "My Computer"
3. Click "Manage"
4. Select "Disk Management" from the list along the left

You can change your drive lettering there. Right click a drive in the bottom right corner, and select "Change Drive Letter and Paths"

Don't think that will work cuz you can't change the letter on the OS drive.

[crjdriver]

Panama actually you can change a system drive letter, however it is a very involved process and most apps would need to be reinstalled anyway so I usually do not even suggest changing the system drive letter. Here is the MSKB (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=http://support.microsoft.com:80/support/kb/articles/q223/1/88.asp&NoWebContent=1#appliesto) article that explains how to do this.

[Kareeser]

Sorry panama. My bad... lack of knowledge, t'is is... ><

[Panama Red]

Here is the MSKB (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=http://support.microsoft.com:80/support/kb/articles/q223/1/88.asp&NoWebContent=1#appliesto) article that explains how to do this.

Still a problem if I read this KB right:

"Warning Do not use the procedure that is described in this article to change a drive on a computer where the drive letter has not changed. If you do so, you may not be able to start your operating system. Follow the procedure that is described in this article only to recover from a drive letter change, not to change an existing computer drive to something else. Back up your registry keys before you make this change."

[crjdriver]

What it is referring to is the fact that apps will need to be reinstalled and or a boot manager [if one is used] When an app is installed, it installs .dll files to the winnt and or winnt\system32 folder. When you change the system drive letter, the app looks for those files on say H well you changed the path to C and the apps will not run.

FWIW I have done this procedure once when someone installed with a card reader. It does work, however I do not recommend it to people because it is quite involved. A clean install would be a better way to accomplish this task.