PC halp! (drive naming)

[Mattayus]

I'm such a PC noob sometimes it's unreal.

After a fresh re-install of Windows today thanks to a bastard virus that I couldn't shift, my drives seem to have done the ol' switcheroo.

It used to be -

C: A 40Gb HDD with the OS and programs on
D: A 125Gb HDD with all data, projects, libraries etc on.

Every time I've re-installed windows in the past they've kept this format, as the D: drive has always stayed the same (never been formatted). But today the operating system drive is now called D: and is second in the list in My Computer. It's not a problem per se, nothing's actually *changed*, but I'm just wondering why it's done it this time and not the other times, and if I can change them back? It's just a little confusing after having the other config for so long.

I know I go into my computer > manage > disk management, but it won't seem to let me do it. I'm probably just being a plank.

 

[Damian B]

There is no way to change the drive letter of the operating system drive. I would recommend reinstalling. Certain software (like all HP printer stuff, off the top of my head) can only be installed to the C: drive, and you will most likely run into issues.

edit: one more thing - to avoid it happening again, disconnect the second drive while reinstalling, then plug it back up.

 

[sinewavealex]

I had the same problem a couple of years ago. Honestly, I just sat it out till I needed re-formatting then done everything properly. When installing WinXP there's the step where he lists the available partitions. You should be able to format them and set partition sizes through there.

For post-mortem situations there is Partition Magic. It's a paid software, but there are a few alternatives available

http://partitionlogic.org.uk/ is a decent free alternative, I think you can change the drive letters as well as partition sizes without harming data. It's probably not the only one out there. Do so at your own risk, nothing is fail-safe, but since your system is freshly installed I guess there's little risk of you losing all your data, so give it a try!

 

[AgentX]

Most BIOS's have a boot order but also an HDD order, check your BIOS to make sure that the primary (40Gb) is the first in the drive order list. Then I imagine either windows will switch it, or you will have to re-install windows to get the mappings correct.

 

[arv_foh]

There is no way to change the drive letter of the operating system drive. I would recommend reinstalling. Certain software (like all HP printer stuff, off the top of my head) can only be installed to the C: drive, and you will most likely run into issues.

edit: one more thing - to avoid it happening again, disconnect the second drive while reinstalling, then plug it back up.

That's not really true.. most software will default to where the operating system is located even if it's not C:

My parent's computer is I: and I've never had any problems installing any software on it

 

[Mattayus]

Since I've only just re-installed though, and haven't started re-installing all my major programs yet, I may as well give it the benefit of the doubt and format again... see ya in an hour or so!

 

[AgentX]

Since I've only just re-installed though, and haven't started re-installing all my major programs yet, I may as well give it the benefit of the doubt and format again... see ya in an hour or so!

Good luck!

 

[Damian B]

That's not really true.. most software will default to where the operating system is located even if it's not C:

My parent's computer is I: and I've never had any problems installing any software on it

Most software will work - but some will not, or he will have to change the installation path which is a bit of a hassle. Reinstalling is the best option.

 

[Mutant]

99.999% of PC viruses CAN be removed without reinstalling Windows and 100% without reformatting the drive.

Having a small spare removable HDD (or even just a flash drive) with a clean Windows installation plus any good antivirus is one of the best ways to make SURE you won't have any problems even if you catch something extremely ugly.
Just connect the HDD and boot from it, run the scan on the internal infected one, or if you already know which file(s) are the virus - simply delete them.