How do i select a drive letter so that windows assigns dynamically?

Hi,
Ive just created a New Simple volume on a USB flash drive using Disk Management. My laptop has only got drive C: and drive D: dvdrw. I noticed at the far left in the lower half of the screen it said Disk 1, Removable and it had the drive letter E: attached to it. To the right was unallocated space because I had deleted the volume which was previously Drive E:
I want the drive letter to be assigned dynamically by windows each time I insert it into my laptop so when the wizard asked for a drive letter for the drive I didn't change the option the wizard suggested which was Drive F: and then formatted etc. So far so good..everything was fine. I thought when I had selected Drive F: that the ;letter would be dynamic. That isnt the case.
When I remove the flash drive and re-insert it it stays as drive F: whereas it should be drive E: if its dynamic as I only have Drives C: and D: as I explained above. Can anybody explain what Ive done wrong?

Caledon Ken said:

Hi sportsfan148.

Have a look at this thread.

USB flash drive --assign drive letter back to dynamic from static

Is there no way of setting up a dynamically assigned drive letter for the USB flash drive from within Disk Management? I know you can change drive letters in there.

That link was on a thread I started. I'm not too familiar with Diskpart so I was bit unsure. It said Select Disk 1, Select Partition 1 and Assign. I wasn't sure if in my case it should have been Select Volume # and Select Assign. I'm not sure what the difference is between a partition and a volume. And it really confused me in Disk management when Id deleted the volume. As expected it changed to Unallocated Space with drive letter removed. But the drive letter on it shifted over on to the Disk on the far left of the screen i.e Disk 1 Removable Drive E:

Ive posted on the Microsoft Community as well. Someone on there has said the first time you insert a mass storage device such as a USB flash drive into the laptop that a drive letter is assigned and that the letter is then fixed. Do you know if that's correct? I thought that Windows was supposed to automatically assign flash drive letters dynamically?

spunk said:

Partition and Volume are basically the same just called different name depending on the situation.
You can use the word Partition or Volume in Diskpart,
Start a Command Prompt as Admin, type Diskpart press enter
(ie) DISKPART> here type List Volume, the various Volumes (Partitions) are listed with Volume numbers. Now type
Select Volume (#) where you type the number of the Volume you want to select., then press enter. The Volume has an asterisk next to it showing it is the selected volume.
Now type Assign and press enter. Diskpart will dynamically assign the next available drive letter.
Type Exit to leave Command Prompt.

I'm wondering if I'm misunderstanding how dynamic Drive Letter Assignment works. In my case where F was assigned in Disk management but my next available drive letter is actually E...what would happen if another flash drive was inserted at the same time that had also been assigned F Would one of them be dynamically assigned another drive letter or would there be a conflict where one of the drives wouldn't be recognised?
Or to put it another way..disk management set up letter F on the drive. I'm thinking that it is fixed because it didn't revert to drive E when I unplugged and re-inserted it. Is it actually a dynamic letter F but it will only actually change now if I insert another flash drive in my laptop before it that has that same letter F ?

spunk said:

Partition and Volume are basically the same just called different name depending on the situation.
You can use the word Partition or Volume in Diskpart,
Start a Command Prompt as Admin, type Diskpart press enter
(ie) DISKPART> here type List Volume, the various Volumes (Partitions) are listed with Volume numbers. Now type
Select Volume (#) where you type the number of the Volume you want to select., then press enter. The Volume has an asterisk next to it showing it is the selected volume.
Now type Assign and press enter. Diskpart will dynamically assign the next available drive letter.
Type Exit to leave Command Prompt.

Thanks very much for your guidance

Caledon Ken said:

Sorry I didn't really look through thread, just remember Bree had posted instructions.

I guess I never paid that much attention to the drive letter. I just use explorer to locate drive by its label and then do what I need to do. If the drive isn't there I open up Disk management and assign it a letter out of list.

Thanks Ken. I think I might label the drives clearly and do the same

Layback Bear said:

Use this tutorial by gregrocker so we can see what you have.

Disk Management - How to Post a Screenshot of General Tips Tutorials

Then complete this tutorialby JDobbsy1987,so we know your system.

System Specs - Fill in at Ten Forums Site Use Tutorials

Jack

Thanks Jack..Im all sorted now