[Webslinger64]

This may be a silly question, and it may not even matter in the long run, but I recently purchased a computer from a friend and realized after I wiped the hard drive, installed Windows XP and transferred all of my old computer's backup to the new computer, that the hard drive on the new computer shows up as F: when I open up "My computer". That just struck me as odd.
So the way it breaks down is as follows... A: = Floppy Drive, C: = Removable Disk, D: = Removable Disk, E: = DVD-RAM Drive, and F: = Local Disk.
Just wondering why my local drive isn't showing up as C: and does it really even matter?

[Advertisements]

there was probably something weird during the install. how did you go about wiping the drive and starting over?

it's not a huge issue. the OS can stay on "F:" if you want it too...you may run into issues with some program installers that are hard coded to install to the c: drive...but that's getting less common

[dsenette]

there was probably something weird during the install. how did you go about wiping the drive and starting over?

it's not a huge issue. the OS can stay on "F:" if you want it too...you may run into issues with some program installers that are hard coded to install to the c: drive...but that's getting less common

[Webslinger64]

there was probably something weird during the install. how did you go about wiping the drive and starting over?

it's not a huge issue. the OS can stay on "F:" if you want it too...you may run into issues with some program installers that are hard coded to install to the c: drive...but that's getting less common

I used the Seagate Disc Utility Wizard to wipe the drive, then loaded Windows XP. If I were to be totally anal about the whole thing and insist that the hard drive registers as C:, any idea what I would have to do to make that happen?

[dsenette]

format and reinstall would be the only real option

you can change the system drive letter AFTER the OS is installed, but that's only a technical ability (i.e. you CAN do it)....i wouldn't suggest it...at all

[Webslinger64]

Sounds like the best thing to do is to leave it as is, unless it becomes a real headache in the future for some reason. Hopefully not.

Thanks for your help.

[dsenette]

the system drive is a bit different...you can change the letter, and windows will generally be fine. however a lot of applications that have installed little components here and there on the system drive won't know that the drive letter has changed, so they'll fail to load and cause errors because their files no longer live on the F drive

[123Runner]

The reason you got the F designation is because you have "removable drives" installed. The computer took those letters 1st.

If you reformat again, disconnect the removable drives.

And to my knowledge you can not change the drive letter designation on the system drive. I tried it once when I did the same thing you did. It would not let me.

123runner