Changing Drive Letters

When you add drives to your computer, including extra hard drives, CD/DVD drives, USB drives, and even memory cards from cameras, Windows automatically assigns the next available drive letter. Many times, Windows will retain these drive letters if you unplug, then re-plug in a drive. Sometimes it doesn't.

If you want some consistency in your drive lettering scheme, OR you use more than one computer and would like the same drive lettering consistency across all your computers (assuming you move portable hard drives or USB drives from one computer to another), Windows offers you a way to manage your drive letters on each computer. Here is how you do it:

1. Click on Start, then Right-click My Computer, and then click Manage.

2. Under Computer Management, click Disk Management. In the right pane, you’ll see your drives listed. CD-ROM drives are listed at the bottom of the pane.

3. Right-click the drive or device you want to change, and then click Change Drive Letter and Paths.

4. Click Change, click Assign the following drive letter, click the drive letter you want to assign, and then click OK.

I have found that once you do this, your lettering scheme will not change as Windows recognizes the name of the drive and consistently assigns the same drive letter that you have chosen. It goes without saying that you should never change the lettering of your main hard drive (C:). And, in fact, Windows will not let you do it.

As I use three computers on a regular basis, I've found that having the same drive letters assigned to my portable devices is a great help in getting my work done.