Help - drive letters scrambled

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

I'll keep this as brief as possible. After using Drive Image
(carefully, I thought) to copy my system drive C to a partition of
identical size on an identical second hard disk, my drive letters have
now been scrambled! C is E and E is C. So by default XP is booting
into the 'copied' version, the one without all my software installed,
my broadband, etc. (And presumably all my hundred of shortcuts screwed
up.)

This is what the setup NOW looks like:
http://www.terrypin.dial.pipex.com/Misc/Mess1.gif

And this is what it SHOULD look like (as it did a few hours ago):
http://www.terrypin.dial.pipex.com/Misc/XPDiskMgmt.gif

Can someone step me through how I can get these drive letters returned
to their former state please?

BTW, I have Drive Image 2002 and PM 7.0, as well as whatever
facilities are offered by XP Home itself with Disk Management.

All help and advice will be warmly appreciated please.


--
Terry, West Sussex, UK

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

In Partition Magic there is a program called Datakeeper which has the ability
to correct many drive letter issues, although that may or may not be the
wisest option here. As always, make a backup of important data first. I am
not smart enough to help you with your problem or provide any support for the
above mentioned software, but I can tell you that your problem is very likely
fixable so you shouldn't panic just yet.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Okay, I see what happened, your (now-C) drive became bootable...thus Windows
reassigned all drive letters accordingly as it always does. What you should
do is create Emmergency Boot Disks in Partition Magic, and then set your
(now-C) drive as (either "hidden" or "none")...something besides "active".

Another option would be to use the program called Boot Magic, also in the
Partition Magic program. Read very carefully all accompanying manuals.
Either way, make some emmergency boot disks. It would be foolish not to.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

"soundsgood2me" <soundsgood2me@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>In Partition Magic there is a program called Datakeeper which has the ability
>to correct many drive letter issues, although that may or may not be the
>wisest option here. As always, make a backup of important data first. I am
>not smart enough to help you with your problem or provide any support for the
>above mentioned software, but I can tell you that your problem is very likely
>fixable so you shouldn't panic just yet.

Thanks. I'll take a look at what PM 7 offers. But I'm very nervous of
making matters worse. Apart from the 'alien' nature of seeing all my C
stuff now called E, the practical issue is how to get the PC to reboot
by default into my 'proper' system - the one I used to call C! As
things stand right now, I have to catch it at that stage and manually
select a line 'Windows XP Home Edition #2', to get booted into where I
am now.

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Yeah, you're problem is definitely the fact that the new drive is set as
"active."

Therein lies your problem.

Next time you do a backup it would be advisable to put it near the end of
the disk rather than at the beginning, because Windows likes to boot to
what's at the beginning of the disk and doesn't like to boot to what's on the
end of the drive. Just something to think about.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

"soundsgood2me" <soundsgood2me@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>Okay, I see what happened, your (now-C) drive became bootable...thus Windows
>reassigned all drive letters accordingly as it always does. What you should
>do is create Emmergency Boot Disks in Partition Magic, and then set your
>(now-C) drive as (either "hidden" or "none")...something besides "active".
>
>Another option would be to use the program called Boot Magic, also in the
>Partition Magic program. Read very carefully all accompanying manuals.
>Either way, make some emmergency boot disks. It would be foolish not to.

Thanks, appreciate your hanging in here - I need all the help I can
get!

I dis make Boot Disks for both PM7 and DI 2002, but haven't yet tried
to use them.

I tried installing Boot Magic just now from the original CD, but it
won't install as I have no FAT/FAT32. (That explains why I didn't
install it 2 years ago.)

However, I've made some progress!
XP System Properties>Advanced>Startup & Recovery>Settings>System
Startup has a box for 'Default Operating System'. Pretty deeply buried
eh ? <g> So, I can change the bootup system easily.

Trouble is, I can't get what's left of my brain around just *which*
one to choose. I've currently changed it to
"Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition (#2)" /fastdetect /NoExecute
but they now both look identical once they've booted into XP.

Basically, what I want is what I had: to boot up to a 'system'
partition called C, on my original (oldest) hard disk. So this would
also be the 'boot partition', yes?

This is how it looks right now, after changing the boot partition in
XP Properties:
http://www.terrypin.dial.pipex.com/Misc/Mess2.gif

If I left it like this, then I'd be working from system C. That's
good, because C is the familiar label. But I'd be accessing most of my
data and many programs on Disk 2, which makes me uncomfortable. I want
most of my activity to be confined to one hard disk, disk 1, and only
access disk 2 for backup of data nightly, plus hopefully rare
emergencies when I need to boot into the alternative (increasingly
old) XP system.

But if I arrange to boot from E, then the goods and bads get reversed,
yes? So it seems to me I 'just' want to relabel C as E, and E as C -
but without screwing up the registry and hundreds of shortcuts.

I'm beginning to consider using Drive Image again, this time to copy E
to C. Sort of reverse whatever happened before. But I don't think I'm
brave enough ;-(

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK

 

[nick]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

On Sun, 10 Oct 2004 15:36:32 +0100, Terry Pinnell
<terrypinDELETE@THESEdial.pipex.com> wrote:

>I'll keep this as brief as possible. After using Drive Image
>(carefully, I thought) to copy my system drive C to a partition of
>identical size on an identical second hard disk, my drive letters have
>now been scrambled! C is E and E is C. So by default XP is booting
>into the 'copied' version, the one without all my software installed,
>my broadband, etc. (And presumably all my hundred of shortcuts screwed
>up.)
>
>This is what the setup NOW looks like:
>http://www.terrypin.dial.pipex.com/Misc/Mess1.gif
>
>And this is what it SHOULD look like (as it did a few hours ago):
>http://www.terrypin.dial.pipex.com/Misc/XPDiskMgmt.gif
>
>Can someone step me through how I can get these drive letters returned
>to their former state please?
>
>BTW, I have Drive Image 2002 and PM 7.0, as well as whatever
>facilities are offered by XP Home itself with Disk Management.
>
>All help and advice will be warmly appreciated please.


You can change the drive lette easily using the Registry editor
(regedit)
Just go to HKEY_LOCALE_MACHINE/System/Mounted device

There you have the list of al the drive, and you can change them and
reboot

Be careful into doing it

Good luck
Nick

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

Well, I'm darned! Somehow XP has automagically returned the partition
names to their correct original labels:
http://www.terrypin.dial.pipex.com/Misc/LookingGood.gif

It's also for some reason removed that 'Boot' annotation.

All I did was what I'd done a couple of times before, change the
default boot drop down box I described.

Anyway, not worried how it happened, just happy to have normality
back.

--
Terry Pinnell
Hobbyist, West Sussex, UK

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

Terry, not to make lite of the problem (at least it's fixed) but you have more darn problems than any one person I know of.

--
Just my 2¢ worth,
Jeff
__________In response to__________
"Terry Pinnell" <terrypinDELETE@THESEdial.pipex.com> wrote in message news:q7bjm0l4vkm0vjcnn8t57q09tjbn6ni2uj@4ax.com...
| Well, I'm darned! Somehow XP has automagically returned the partition
| names to their correct original labels:
| http://www.terrypin.dial.pipex.com/Misc/LookingGood.gif
|
| It's also for some reason removed that 'Boot' annotation.
|
| All I did was what I'd done a couple of times before, change the
| default boot drop down box I described.
|
| Anyway, not worried how it happened, just happy to have normality
| back.
|
| --
| Terry Pinnell
| Hobbyist, West Sussex, UK

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

I was premature saying it was fixed ;-(

I feel very close to sorting it, yet still can't quite get there. Any
further help would be much appreciated please. I'll try to spell out
all the details.

This 'system' to which I'm presently booted, in which I'm composing
this message, is called 'XP Home Edition #2'. That's what appears in
the drop-down box I've since discovered at XP System
Properties>Advanced>Startup & Recovery>Settings>System Startup.
And it's the line that was selected by default for a few seconds
during the last boot up process.

In XP Disk Mgmt I see this:
http://www.terrypin.dial.pipex.com/Misc/AnotherBootOption.gif
So that seems to confirm that I'm in C.
Note the annotation 'Boot' against C.

BUT I don't follow why C is now shown on HD2 ?? I want it to be on
HD1, where it was until I copied C (on HD1) to E (on HD2). IOW, I want
C to always mean the physical partition on HD 1, and I want it to be
my normal 'system'. Only in an emergency, or to experiment, would I
want to boot up to the alternative system, which I copied to E.

Now, I'll save this post while I reboot to the other option.

-------

OK, I've done that. In XP Disk Mgmt I now see this:
http://www.terrypin.dial.pipex.com/Misc/OneBootOption.gif

The arrangement here is the one I've become used to over the last
couple of years.

BUT it shows that E is now 'Active'. (Why not 'Boot' BTW?)
And, the files I found under the C:\ path while in the other system
are now under E:\. Anyway, I am now thoroughly confused!

Can anyone suggest a simple, risk-free way of getting to what I had
before please: Boot to C, C physically on HD1.

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

Terry, it (in my experience) wont be quick or easy.

You need to delete and format the C and E partitions. Reinstall XP to the freshly formated C on HDD 0 (1). Install your programs. Get imaging software, I use TrueImage from www.acronis.com, and create an image of C.

Do your experimentation on C and if it goes bad restore the image. Just copying XP to another primary partition doesn't work, as you found out.

--
Just my 2¢ worth,
Jeff
__________In response to__________
"Terry Pinnell" <terrypinDELETE@THESEdial.pipex.com> wrote in message news:ml2lm0hnns5abh0d9f12dpu3nnbo12q62n@4ax.com...
|I was premature saying it was fixed ;-(
|
| I feel very close to sorting it, yet still can't quite get there. Any
| further help would be much appreciated please. I'll try to spell out
| all the details.
|
| This 'system' to which I'm presently booted, in which I'm composing
| this message, is called 'XP Home Edition #2'. That's what appears in
| the drop-down box I've since discovered at XP System
| Properties>Advanced>Startup & Recovery>Settings>System Startup.
| And it's the line that was selected by default for a few seconds
| during the last boot up process.
|
| In XP Disk Mgmt I see this:
| http://www.terrypin.dial.pipex.com/Misc/AnotherBootOption.gif
| So that seems to confirm that I'm in C.
| Note the annotation 'Boot' against C.
|
| BUT I don't follow why C is now shown on HD2 ?? I want it to be on
| HD1, where it was until I copied C (on HD1) to E (on HD2). IOW, I want
| C to always mean the physical partition on HD 1, and I want it to be
| my normal 'system'. Only in an emergency, or to experiment, would I
| want to boot up to the alternative system, which I copied to E.
|
| Now, I'll save this post while I reboot to the other option.
|
| -------
|
| OK, I've done that. In XP Disk Mgmt I now see this:
| http://www.terrypin.dial.pipex.com/Misc/OneBootOption.gif
|
| The arrangement here is the one I've become used to over the last
| couple of years.
|
| BUT it shows that E is now 'Active'. (Why not 'Boot' BTW?)
| And, the files I found under the C:\ path while in the other system
| are now under E:\. Anyway, I am now thoroughly confused!
|
| Can anyone suggest a simple, risk-free way of getting to what I had
| before please: Boot to C, C physically on HD1.
|
| --
| Terry, West Sussex, UK

 

[frank]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

"Terry Pinnell" <terrypinDELETE@THESEdial.pipex.com> wrote in message
news:hshim05jkrvonfefr1uathheerup0qsma1@4ax.com...
> I'll keep this as brief as possible. After using Drive Image
> (carefully, I thought) to copy my system drive C to a partition of
> identical size on an identical second hard disk, my drive letters
> have
> now been scrambled! C is E and E is C. So by default XP is booting
> into the 'copied' version, the one without all my software
> installed,
> my broadband, etc. (And presumably all my hundred of shortcuts
> screwed
> up.)
>
> This is what the setup NOW looks like:
> http://www.terrypin.dial.pipex.com/Misc/Mess1.gif
>
> And this is what it SHOULD look like (as it did a few hours ago):
> http://www.terrypin.dial.pipex.com/Misc/XPDiskMgmt.gif
>
> Can someone step me through how I can get these drive letters
> returned
> to their former state please?
>
> BTW, I have Drive Image 2002 and PM 7.0, as well as whatever
> facilities are offered by XP Home itself with Disk Management.

a) Drive image 7 is needed for WXP.
b) You made a copy of your drive instead of a backup.
c) It does not make sense to make a back up of your
drive and then leave the backup/copy in the machine.
d) Things may be FUBAR by now.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage (More info?)

"Frank" <bbunny@bqik.net> wrote in message
news:uvVymhVsEHA.2128@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
>
> "Terry Pinnell" <terrypinDELETE@THESEdial.pipex.com> wrote in message
> news:hshim05jkrvonfefr1uathheerup0qsma1@4ax.com...
> > I'll keep this as brief as possible. After using Drive Image
> > (carefully, I thought) to copy my system drive C to a partition of
> > identical size on an identical second hard disk, my drive letters
> > have
> > now been scrambled! C is E and E is C. So by default XP is booting
> > into the 'copied' version, the one without all my software
> > installed,
> > my broadband, etc. (And presumably all my hundred of shortcuts
> > screwed
> > up.)
> >
> > This is what the setup NOW looks like:
> > http://www.terrypin.dial.pipex.com/Misc/Mess1.gif
> >
> > And this is what it SHOULD look like (as it did a few hours ago):
> > http://www.terrypin.dial.pipex.com/Misc/XPDiskMgmt.gif
> >
> > Can someone step me through how I can get these drive letters
> > returned
> > to their former state please?
> >
> > BTW, I have Drive Image 2002 and PM 7.0, as well as whatever
> > facilities are offered by XP Home itself with Disk Management.
>
> a) Drive image 7 is needed for WXP.
> b) You made a copy of your drive instead of a backup.
> c) It does not make sense to make a back up of your
> drive and then leave the backup/copy in the machine.
> d) Things may be FUBAR by now.
>
>

It can still be fixed

Print this in case it doesn't work as planned

1. Start-->Run
2. Type MSCONFIG
3. select the BOOT.INI tab
4. IF there is more than one line, remove the one that points to the wrong
partitions. (it will be listed strange but look for the one that does NOT
say partition 1) If there is only one line then you'll need to alter it
another way.

1. My Computer-->C:\
2. Go to Tools Menu-->folder options
3. Select VIEW tab
4. Find and select "Show hidden files and Folders" (may say "Show all
files") then click OK
5. Find a file named Boot.ini
6. Right click it and select copy, then past the copy to the same area.
7.now right click the copy and select rename. Name it something like
Boot.bad
8. open the original Boot.ini in wordpad or notepad.
9. Locate the following line
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(x)\WINDOWS
Where (x) can be any number depending on the partition it is pointing the
system to and how many partitions exist on your drive.
10. Change the character from x to 1.

Reboot and see if it works. If it does, congratulations
If not. go back to the c: drive, rename boot.ini to boot.poo, then rename
boot.bad to boot.ini so you are at least back where you started.

Microsofts knowledgebase usually has helpful fixes for this kinda thing too.
Search for something like XP boots to wrong partition.

Kevin