A> ??>> I recently installed a new hard drive and Windows XP Pro.
??>> Now my drive is shown as (F
![Smile :) :)](/styles/default/custom/smilies/smile.gif)
drive. I want to install
??>> several Programs but cannot do it because my (C
![Smile :) :)](/styles/default/custom/smilies/smile.gif)
drive is
??>> now my Zip drive. I also cannot change letters in drive
??>> management. What would be my solution to this short of
??>> doing the system all over again. If I have to do it all
??>> over again, how do I make sure it doesn't happen again.
??>>
??>> Thanks
Anna wrote on Fri, 1 Feb 2008 22:59:19 -0500:
A> kmayes:
A> Although as you've heard from a number of responders that
A> it's not crucial that your system (boot) drive be designated
A> as the C: drive and you can live with your system (boot)
A> drive as the F: drive, our experience in a Windows
A> environment tells us that for a variety of reasons it *is*
A> most desirable for your system (boot) drive to have the C:
A> letter designation.
James Silverton said:
Since I have only experienced the minor annoyance of having to change a
*suggested* location, I would be interested in knowing > some of "the
variety of reasons". Please don't think I am being sarcastic
James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland
E-mail, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not
James:
Over the years in a Windows environment we've encountered many problems and
annoyances with users' machines where their system (boot) drive had not been
designated with the ubiquitous C: drive assignment letter because of one
reason or another, chiefly because another (potentially) bootable storage
device had been connected in the system while the user was attempting to
fresh-install the XP OS. (I believe this is the root of the OP's problem.)
Also, problems arising from faulty processes involving a disk cloning
operation.
In any event, the problems we subsequently encountered because of this
situation involved the inability (present & future) for the user to install
a particular program on his/her system (boot) drive because the program
simply balked at any attempt to install such program other than on a C:
designated drive. True, virtually any major program in existence today will
allow this capability but there are still a host of programs out there
(including "custom-made" programs) that simply don't have this capability.
We also encountered problems where future user configuration modifications
simply wouldn't work because the program had originally been installed on a
non-C: designated drive.
Also, we've run into many problems with subsequent upgrades, patches, fixes
of one sort or another affecting an installed program that either would not
modify the targeted program because the program resided on an other-than-C:
drive (even though the user had not originally experienced any difficulty in
installing that program on a non-C: drive), or even if the upgrade, patch,
etc. appeared to be installed properly we ran into subsequent problems of
one kind or another which we attributed to the fact that the program resided
on a non-C: designated drive.
So all-in-all as I've suggested to the OP, if it's not too terribly onerous
to "start over" as it were and perform a correct fresh install of the XP OS
so as to install that OS on a C: designated drive, our advice is do so. On
the other hand if it's simply impractical for the user to do this because
the programs/applications installed on drive make it too difficult or
impossible for the user to reinstall these programs/applications following a
fresh install of the OS (together with the usually onerous chore of
reinstalling all the MS critical updates), then he or she can live with the
present situation and hope for the best.
Anna