Drive Letters, will they be overwritten or reassigned?

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  1. Posts : 9
    Win 10 Pro
       #11

    CountMike said:
    It's important to remember that drive letters are assigned by OS and don't stay with same drive if moved to another position, OS or computer.
    really dude i'm pretty sure mrje1 got that.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 19,516
    W11+W11 Developer Insider + Linux
       #12

    xXWhacerXx said:
    really dude i'm pretty sure mrje1 got that.
    Yes, really "Dude".
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 314
    Windows 10 Pro x64 Build 1803
    Thread Starter
       #13

    CountMike said:
    It's important to remember that drive letters are assigned by OS and don't stay with same drive if moved to another position, OS or computer.
    Hey CountMike,

    Thank you so much for your response, time and asstance! One more twist to the plot, It might be redundant to what you said or what was said earlier, so sorry.

    Let's say I plug the brand new hard drives before I do a clean install. For example, I already have 4 external HDD's assigned drive letters E, F, G & H. The new ones I have will get drive letters I and J. That is 6 drives with letters.
    Now, once I do a clean install and plug in the new drives first. From what was said here I am guessing that the newly installed Windows will start from the beginning and label the new hard drives drive letters E & F instead of I and J. Am I right on?
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 19,516
    W11+W11 Developer Insider + Linux
       #14

    Newly (clean) installed Windows will again reassign letter in the order they appear in BIOS, Ie. the places connected to disk controller.
    Something like this:
    SATA0 >C:/ (Where OS is installed)
    SATA1 > D:/
    SATA2 > E:/
    Etc. Etc.
    Partitions (with a letter) may drop in somewhere in between.
      My Computers


  5. Posts : 314
    Windows 10 Pro x64 Build 1803
    Thread Starter
       #15

    CountMike said:
    Newly (clean) installed Windows will again reassign letter in the order they appear in BIOS, Ie. the places connected to disk controller.
    Something like this:
    SATA0 >C:/ (Where OS is installed)
    SATA1 > D:/
    SATA2 > E:/
    Etc. Etc.
    Partitions (with a letter) may drop in somewhere in between.
    Thank you again. I appreciate it.

    I want to make sure I am following correctly. My HDD's are external and will be plugged into a USB Port, with that said will they appear as you showed?

    To make sure here because I think I almost got the light bulb going off:) The OS will definitely forget the drive letters of I and J before the clean install? I am guessing yes of what you said earlier that it will reassign probably to E and F and then as I plug in the other HDD's it will assign G H etc etc.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 19,516
    W11+W11 Developer Insider + Linux
       #16

    Removables may behave differently but also in order of appearance. If you give each disk a name it will stick with it until reformatted and name changed. Also when you format a disk it gets own serial number. You can track them on those two parameters.
      My Computers


  7. Posts : 12,799
    Windows 11 Pro
       #17

    What works for me if I want my external drives to maintain the same drive letter each time they are plugged in is assign them letters high in the alphabet so there is little chance another drive will take its drive letter. For example, I have 3 external drives I use frequently. I gave them drive letters of W,X and Y. Every time I connect them they always have the same drive letter. As Count Mike said, they get their own serial number and the computer will remember as long as no other drive has taken its place. Not likely to happen with drive letters such as X.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 1,621
    Windows 10 Home
       #18

    +1 essenbe -- as long as one plugs those usb ext devices into their same respective usb ports, they retain their assigned drive letter.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 314
    Windows 10 Pro x64 Build 1803
    Thread Starter
       #19

    CountMike said:
    Removables may behave differently but also in order of appearance. If you give each disk a name it will stick with it until reformatted and name changed. Also when you format a disk it gets own serial number. You can track them on those two parameters.
    Thank you for that information. Helpful.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 314
    Windows 10 Pro x64 Build 1803
    Thread Starter
       #20

    essenbe said:
    What works for me if I want my external drives to maintain the same drive letter each time they are plugged in is assign them letters high in the alphabet so there is little chance another drive will take its drive letter. For example, I have 3 external drives I use frequently. I gave them drive letters of W,X and Y. Every time I connect them they always have the same drive letter. As Count Mike said, they get their own serial number and the computer will remember as long as no other drive has taken its place. Not likely to happen with drive letters such as X.
    RolandJS said:
    +1 essenbe -- as long as one plugs those usb ext devices into their same respective usb ports, they retain their assigned drive letter.
    Thank you!
      My Computer


 

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