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Swapping drive letters with new hard drive?


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#1
WhydoIask?

WhydoIask?

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In my computer, I have an SSD with my operating system and programs on it, along with a 1.5TB data drive (drive D:\) that holds all of my steam games and user folders (connected to the SSD via symbolic link.) I bought a 3TB drive to replace the 1.5TB, but I'm not sure how to proceed with the links. Now that I've got the data copied over (I used shadowcopy,) I can change the symbolic links over, but can I change the drive letters afterwards? I want to keep my data drive as D:\, but my new hard drive is currently E:\

So basically, I'm asking how I can change my drive letters and keep the symbolic links intact.

Thanks!
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#2
phillpower2

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Have you tried This
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#3
WhydoIask?

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No, I haven't yet. I need a way to change the paths without breaking the symbolic links (either that, or find a way to keep a drive in D:\ at all times.) I've tried cloning the drive, but the programs (and boot cd's) I use either fail or don't recognize one of the drives. Is there a way I can change these letters from recovery mode?

Edited by WhydoIask?, 10 August 2013 - 06:19 AM.

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#4
WhydoIask?

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Alright, I figured it out. The reason this isn't so straightforward with me is that my users folder is on my data drive, linked to C:\. If I change the drive letter away from D:\ without changing the link, I won't have a Users folder, and I don't want to know how Windows will react without one while I'm still logged in. I'm using Link Shell Extension, and I didn't realize until today that this added a tab to the properties window of links. The new 'link properties' tab lets me change the target of the link, so I was able to move the link of my users folder to E:\ (my new drive with everything copied over.) Then it was as easy as changing the old drive to a new letter, changing the link to the old drive again, changing my new drive to D:\, and pointing the link back to D:\.
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#5
phillpower2

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Glad to hear you figured it out and thank you for posting the solution WhydoIask? so that it may help others :thumbsup:
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