Why I can't change my hard disk drive letter from I: to D: ?


  1. Posts : 39
    Microsoft Windows 10 Home
       #1

    Why I can't change my hard disk drive letter from I: to D: ?


    I did: Search Windows > Create and format hard disk partitions > Selected clicked on drive I: > Right mouse click > Change drive letter and Paths... > Change > Assign the following drive letter:

    In the list of letters I have B G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

    My internal dvd burner was assigned to D: but I changed it's letter to F:
    Now I tried to change the hard disk I: to D: but i'm getting error: The parameter is incorrect


    Why I can't change my hard disk drive letter from I: to D: ?-inc.jpg

    This is the whole Disk Management screenshot:

    Why I can't change my hard disk drive letter from I: to D: ?-manag.jpg

    And this is a screenshot of my desktop:

    Why I can't change my hard disk drive letter from I: to D: ?-desk.jpg

    What I want to do is that I: will be D:
    But i'm getting this error.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 56,806
    Multi-boot Windows 10/11 - RTM, RP, Beta, and Insider
       #2

    Chocolade said:
    I did: Search Windows > Create and format hard disk partitions > Selected clicked on drive I: > Right mouse click > Change drive letter and Paths... > Change > Assign the following drive letter:

    In the list of letters I have B G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

    My internal dvd burner was assigned to D: but I changed it's letter to F:
    Now I tried to change the hard disk I: to D: but i'm getting error: The parameter is incorrect


    Why I can't change my hard disk drive letter from I: to D: ?-inc.jpg

    This is the whole Disk Management screenshot:

    Why I can't change my hard disk drive letter from I: to D: ?-manag.jpg

    And this is a screenshot of my desktop:

    Why I can't change my hard disk drive letter from I: to D: ?-desk.jpg

    What I want to do is that I: will be D:
    But i'm getting this error.
    Did you restart after you changed the DVD to F: ? Because it is hardware, and assigned as "D" internally, you may need to reboot so Windows can rearrange the NTFS. Can't hurt to try.
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 152
    Windows 10 Pro/Education x64
       #3

    I don't think you can affect a change to d: as long as there is a paging file on there. Move the paging file back to c: and try again after rebooting the machine.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 42,735
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #4

    You'd be better off making the change with a 3rd party partition manager such as Minitool Partition Wizard or Aomei Partition Assistant.

    Look for those to require a restart to implement the change. Hopefully.
      My Computers


  5. Posts : 39
    Microsoft Windows 10 Home
    Thread Starter
       #5

    I found how to do it following this steps:

    "ACTUALLY I got it to work, finally. I am not technical. So just use minitool partition wizard, found here:
    http://download.cnet.com/Partition-Wizard-Home-Edition/3000-2094_4-10962200.html?tag=mncol;6

    1. open the program, right-click on the drive you want to change
    2. select "change letter"
    3. click the drop down box by "new drive letter"
    4. select the letter you want to change it to
    5. click "ok"
    6. at the bottom left corner of the program click "apply"

    and that's how you do it"

    This is the link for the solution: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...9e13ee9?auth=1

    And it was working great.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 430
    Windows 10 Pro
       #6

    Usually Drive D is reserved by Windows for the DVD RW drive. Windows checks drive D for hardware changes. I believe if you are continually swapping (USB connected) D drive hardware Windows update will say "Whoa! this is not the same PC that the electronic licensing was granted too. Same results as swapping the MOBO you will loose the free licensing.
    Maybe someone on the forum can confirm this?
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 17,661
    Windows 10 Pro
       #7

    Stitch194 said:
    I believe if you are continually swapping (USB connected) D drive hardware Windows update will say "Whoa! this is not the same PC that the electronic licensing was granted too. Same results as swapping the MOBO you will loose the free licensing.

    Maybe someone on the forum can confirm this?
    Windows 10 Digital License is based on so called hardware ID (HWID). Windows 10 has 15 different hardware IDs, none of them includes any information about internal or external storage media (HDD, SSD, DVD, USB Flash Drive and so on):

    HWID
    • HardwareID-0 Manufacturer + Family + Product Name + SKU Number + BIOS Vendor + BIOS Version + BIOS Major Release + BIOS Minor Release
    • HardwareID-1 Manufacturer + Family + Product Name + BIOS Vendor + BIOS Version + BIOS Major Release + BIOS Minor Release
    • HardwareID-2 Manufacturer + Product Name + BIOS Vendor + BIOS Version + BIOS Major Release + BIOS Minor Release
    • HardwareID-3 Manufacturer + Family + Product Name + SKU Number + Baseboard Manufacturer + Baseboard Product
    • HardwareID-4 Manufacturer + Family + Product Name + SKU Number
    • HardwareID-5 Manufacturer + Family + Product Name
    • HardwareID-6 Manufacturer + SKU Number + Baseboard Manufacturer + Baseboard Product
    • HardwareID-7 Manufacturer + SKU Number
    • HardwareID-8 Manufacturer + Product Name + Baseboard Manufacturer + Baseboard Product
    • HardwareID-9 Manufacturer + Product Name
    • HardwareID-10 Manufacturer + Family + Baseboard Manufacturer + Baseboard Product
    • HardwareID-11 Manufacturer + Family
    • HardwareID-12 Manufacturer + Enclosure Type
    • HardwareID-13 Manufacturer + Baseboard Manufacturer + Baseboard Product
    • HardwareID-14 Manufacturer

    Digital license is based on HWID 3.

    More about HWID: Specifying Hardware IDs for a Computer | Microsoft Docs

    As disks are out of the equation having nothing to do with HWID and digital license, once a computer has been activated with a digital license for a specific edition of Windows 10, you can replace the HDD and clean install, Windows being automatically activated.

    Kari
    Last edited by Kari; 03 Jul 2018 at 19:34. Reason: Typos
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 430
    Windows 10 Pro
       #8

    Kari Thanks for the useful information.
      My Computer


 

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