Change drive letter for an unrecognised partition


  1. fergusd
    Posts : 51
    Windows 10 Pro
       New #1

    Change drive letter for an unrecognised partition


    I have a USB stick with (a FAT32 partition and) an essential 2nd partition which is formatted reiserfs.
    On insertion (every time) Windows comes up with "You need to format the disk in drive F: before you can use it" which of course I Cancel since I need the partition exactly as it is.
    However I have external drives in various combinations and the letter that Windows allocates is highly inconvenient.
    I am unable to see any route in Computer > Manage > Disk Management for changing the drive letter from F: to one that does not matter.
    Can anybody offer a route to acheieve this please?
    Thank you!
    Edition Windows 10 Pro
    Version 22H2
    Installed on ‎04/‎10/‎2020
    OS build 19045.3803
    Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.19053.1000.0
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  3. dalchina
    Posts : 43,062
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       New #2

    By way of a guess, you'd need to find a program that handles RieserFS (RFS), which is a somewhat obsolete/Linux-related disk format, in Windows, used for Storage Spaces apparently but not generally supported.

    That seems difficult after a quick search - some mixed mentions of Paragon, one of an Acronis product.
    Last edited by dalchina; 14 Dec 2023 at 05:41.
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  4. User2468
    Posts : 282
    Windows 10 Pro
       New #3

    The Beeblebrox or diskpart options shown in the second most popular answer may be your ticket... Of course I'd backup the data first BEFORE you monkey with it.

    How do I disable "you need to format this disk" message in Windows Vista/7? - Super User



    Edit-

    LOL! And because Beeblebox is apparently from Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy it's hard to find a suitable GUI updated alternative.

    GParted -- A free application for graphically managing disk
    device partitions
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  6. spunk
    Posts : 4,810
    Windows 11 Pro 64 Bit 22H2
       New #4

    As stated, Windows doesn't recognize RieserlFS partitions, so you will not be able to assign a drive letter or view the contents of this partition in Windows. Maybe there is a 3rd party app?

    Windows drive letters are assigned with the next available drive letter. If you have a Windows Partition that you want to change the drive letter of, in Disk Management, Right click the drive and choose Change Drive Letter or Paths. You can also change the drive letter to None if you like.
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  7. fergusd
    Posts : 51
    Windows 10 Pro
    Thread Starter
       New #5

    Got it.
    Visit HKLM/System/MountedDevices/DosDevices
    and Rename the unrecognised partitions to labels that don't matter.
    The old labels still show in Explorer.
    Reboot and Explorer shows the new labels, releasing the needed labels for your use.
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  8. User2468
    Posts : 282
    Windows 10 Pro
       New #6

    I rather liked the partition ID option. I was curios at what other IDs there were and found this: Partition type - Wikipedia
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  9. Try3
    Posts : 16,962
    Windows 10 Home x64 Version 22H2 Build 19045.4170
       New #7

    fergusd said:
    However I have external drives in various combinations and the letter that Windows allocates is highly inconvenient.
    I am unable to see any route in Computer > Manage > Disk Management for changing the drive letter from F: to one that does not matter.
    Can anybody offer a route to acheieve this please?
    Stick another [innocuous] USB stick / external drive in the computer before this awkward one. That way the innocuous one will be F:\ and the awkward one will be G:\. Then, after G:\ has been assigned automatically, you can remove the innocuous one.


    Best of luck,
    Denis
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