Smith & Wesson Forum

Go Back   Smith & Wesson Forum > General Topics > The Lounge
o

Notices

The Lounge A Catch-All Area for NON-GUN topics.
PUT GUN TOPICS in the GUN FORUMS.
Keep it Family Friendly. See The Rules for Banned Topics!


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 09-19-2017, 04:45 PM
VPNAVY's Avatar
VPNAVY VPNAVY is offline
US Veteran
Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment!  
Join Date: May 2012
Location: PA
Posts: 4,930
Likes: 1,063
Liked 470 Times in 377 Posts
Default Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment!

Having a strange problem - maybe we have an expert around...

1. OS: Windows7

2. I use a USB External Drive to hold all my files. Why? When I travel - I just shut off my desktop and attach the drive to my laptop. That gives me all my files, etc. (even my e-mail).

3. 100% of the time the drive is assigned the letter E.

I decided it was time to replace the drive with a new one (been using the same one for 4 years) - so I bought a new drive, copied everything over to it. I powered down my Desktop, removed the old USB Drive and replaced it with the new one. Yes, same USB slot and even used the same USB extension cable.

Guess what? Windows7 assigned it letter G! Normally that wouldn't be a problem but when you save your stuff to Drive E, open Microsoft Word, etc. and select a previously opened file - it can't find it because the drive letter changed. Also, all my defaults for downloading pictures, etc. goes to drive E: into a pre-determined sub directory.

Now, to make matters interesting - I powered down my Desktop, removed the new drive and replaced it with the old drive and guess what? Yuppa - it was back to the letter E. Yuppa - powered down again and put the other drive in place and it went back to drive G. Powered down again, pulled out the new one and connected the old one - BINGO - back to Drive E.

Yes, I know I can go into the system and "force" it to re-assign the drive to letter E but I would prefer the system to handle it automatically.

Could someone explain to me what is happening? I really hate the thought of changing all my stuff to look for another drive letter.

Thanks!
__________________
.:God Bless America:.
Reply With Quote
The Following User Likes This Post:
  #2  
Old 09-19-2017, 06:24 PM
Talldog's Avatar
Talldog Talldog is offline
Member
Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment!  
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 180
Likes: 163
Liked 238 Times in 105 Posts
Default

I wouldn't call myself an "expert", but are you sure that your new USB drive doesn't have hidden/system partitions? Sandisk, for one, is big on those, or at least they used to be.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 09-19-2017, 06:44 PM
kwselke's Avatar
kwselke kwselke is offline
Member
Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment!  
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 5,313
Likes: 35,286
Liked 16,951 Times in 3,692 Posts
Default

Check out this explanation of how it is done.

Windows Tip: Assign Permanent Letters to Removable Drives
Reply With Quote
The Following 2 Users Like Post:
  #4  
Old 09-19-2017, 06:50 PM
VPNAVY's Avatar
VPNAVY VPNAVY is offline
US Veteran
Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment!  
Join Date: May 2012
Location: PA
Posts: 4,930
Likes: 1,063
Liked 470 Times in 377 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Talldog View Post
I wouldn't call myself an "expert", but are you sure that your new USB drive doesn't have hidden/system partitions? Sandisk, for one, is big on those, or at least they used to be.
No partition. Just did another experiment. I plug'd the new drive into my laptop - bingo - it see's it as drive E. Plug'd it into my desktop - booooom - it see's it as drive G. I plug'd my old drive into my desktop - bingo - it see's it as drive E. Seems only my desktop has a problem - very interesting.

Thanks everyone for your suggestion - disk management may be the only way for now when it comes to my desktop.
__________________
.:God Bless America:.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 09-19-2017, 07:01 PM
Targets Guy's Avatar
Targets Guy Targets Guy is offline
US Veteran
Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment!  
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Southwest Iowa
Posts: 10,867
Likes: 2,688
Liked 18,968 Times in 5,588 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by kwselke View Post
Check out this explanation of how it is done.

Windows Tip: Assign Permanent Letters to Removable Drives
It worked. Thanks.
__________________
Mike
S&WCA #3065
Reply With Quote
The Following User Likes This Post:
  #6  
Old 09-19-2017, 11:35 PM
Muss Muggins's Avatar
Muss Muggins Muss Muggins is offline
Member
Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment!  
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: bootheel of Missouri
Posts: 16,853
Likes: 6,981
Liked 28,084 Times in 8,897 Posts
Default

Changing to the right drive takes like two-three seconds, right?

Quote:
Originally Posted by VPNAVY View Post
Having a strange problem - maybe we have an expert around...

1. OS: Windows7

2. I use a USB External Drive to hold all my files. Why? When I travel - I just shut off my desktop and attach the drive to my laptop. That gives me all my files, etc. (even my e-mail).

3. 100% of the time the drive is assigned the letter E.

I decided it was time to replace the drive with a new one (been using the same one for 4 years) - so I bought a new drive, copied everything over to it. I powered down my Desktop, removed the old USB Drive and replaced it with the new one. Yes, same USB slot and even used the same USB extension cable.

Guess what? Windows7 assigned it letter G! Normally that wouldn't be a problem but when you save your stuff to Drive E, open Microsoft Word, etc. and select a previously opened file - it can't find it because the drive letter changed. Also, all my defaults for downloading pictures, etc. goes to drive E: into a pre-determined sub directory.

Now, to make matters interesting - I powered down my Desktop, removed the new drive and replaced it with the old drive and guess what? Yuppa - it was back to the letter E. Yuppa - powered down again and put the other drive in place and it went back to drive G. Powered down again, pulled out the new one and connected the old one - BINGO - back to Drive E.

Yes, I know I can go into the system and "force" it to re-assign the drive to letter E but I would prefer the system to handle it automatically.

Could someone explain to me what is happening? I really hate the thought of changing all my stuff to look for another drive letter.

Thanks!
__________________
Wisdom comes thru fear . . .
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 09-20-2017, 03:53 AM
VPNAVY's Avatar
VPNAVY VPNAVY is offline
US Veteran
Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment!  
Join Date: May 2012
Location: PA
Posts: 4,930
Likes: 1,063
Liked 470 Times in 377 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Muss Muggins View Post
Changing to the right drive takes like two-three seconds, right?
Based on everything I have read - yuppa - only takes a few seconds.
__________________
.:God Bless America:.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 09-20-2017, 06:42 AM
Muss Muggins's Avatar
Muss Muggins Muss Muggins is offline
Member
Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment!  
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: bootheel of Missouri
Posts: 16,853
Likes: 6,981
Liked 28,084 Times in 8,897 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by VPNAVY View Post
Based on everything I have read - yuppa - only takes a few seconds.
Sounds like a first world problem of the first magnitude to me . . .
__________________
Wisdom comes thru fear . . .
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 09-20-2017, 08:28 AM
kwselke's Avatar
kwselke kwselke is offline
Member
Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment!  
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 5,313
Likes: 35,286
Liked 16,951 Times in 3,692 Posts
Default

The real first world problem is writing a detailed and clear explanation of the problem and posting it in a gun forum and asking how to resolve it. Then having a 60 something guy in Texas take the well written question and convert it into the Google Search query... "drive letter assignment for usb drives windows 7", and posting a link to the results. When you could have asked Google yourself.
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 09-20-2017, 08:44 AM
bullmack's Avatar
bullmack bullmack is offline
SWCA Member
Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment! Windows7 USB External Drive Letter Assignment!  
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Puget Sound, Washington
Posts: 1,067
Likes: 182
Liked 1,192 Times in 346 Posts
Default

I used to call my daughter when I got hung up with a computer problem. One time I asked her how she knew the answer. She said she googled the question. I don't bug her anymore! There is a wealth of good info on the internet. There's also a lot of bull! Always consider the source.
__________________
Dennis
SWCA #2409, SWHF #353
Reply With Quote
The Following User Likes This Post:
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Latest assignment: This client is sane, but what they want me to do is strange P&R Fan The Lounge 21 04-08-2014 11:20 AM
.32's I found while on assignment tjpopkin S&W Hand Ejectors: 1896 to 1961 16 03-31-2014 09:10 PM
My assignment (which I have accepted) sell 2 old rifles E Z MUNNY The Lounge 2 12-31-2011 04:53 PM
External hard drive USB 1.0 needed cowboy117 The Lounge 13 06-27-2010 06:30 PM

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
smith-wessonforum.com tested by Norton Internet Security smith-wessonforum.com tested by McAfee Internet Security

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 04:31 PM.


Smith-WessonForum.com is not affiliated with Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation (NASDAQ Global Select: SWHC)