How to change disk volume. How to change the drive letter or flash drive


How to change drive letter in Windows 7 and XP.

Today we will learn how to change the drive letter using Windows itself. It's much easier than it might seem!

At the end of the note you will find a video with a visual example.


  • An example of an awkward sequence of letters;


  • Let's get acquainted with the Disk Management program;


  • Video version;

  • Conclusion.

An example of an inconvenient letter sequence

As an example, let’s take my laptop (I have it as a test laptop, especially for the IT lessons site).


Let's open my computer and see that the data partition has the letter E:, and the drive has the letter D: Agree, this is not logical, and therefore not convenient.



Let's correct this misunderstanding: take the letter D: from the drive, and change the drive letterE: starting with the letterD:.


And the “” program, which is already built into the Windows operating system, will help us.

How to launch Disk Management?

First we need the program " Computer management" There are two ways to open it.


The first method is the easiest:


  1. Click on the icon My computer» right mouse button;

  2. Select " Control».

Let's launch Computer Management


Second way:


  1. Press menu " Start»;

  2. Open « Control Panel»;

  3. Change viewing mode from " Category" on " Large icons" or " Small icons"(not required in Windows XP);

  4. Go to section " Administration»;

  5. Run the program " Computer management».


When the program Computer management» will start, On the left side we find the “Disk Management” tab and click on it with the left mouse button.


Disk Management in Computer Management


There is much more interesting in the Computer Management program, but we will deal with this in future IT lessons. Subscribe to the site's news so you don't miss it, and let's move on.

Getting to know Disk Management

Let's get acquainted with the appearance of the Disk Management program.


Appearance of the Disk Management program


At the top there is " List of sections"in the form of a table in which you can find both useful and not so useful information:


  • The letter and name (label) of the section (column “Volume”);

  • File system;

  • Section status;

  • Full capacity;

  • Free space, etc.

At the bottom there is a “”, i.e. the so-called “graphical representation” of disks. This map clearly shows us how many hard drives we have in our computer, how many partitions there are on them and what letters each partition has.

Change hard drive letter in Windows XP for a knowledgeable person it will not be difficult, so I am writing for those who do not yet know.

In my work troubleshooting the causes of computer malfunctions, I often encountered a problem when employees insert a flash drive into the USB connector of the system unit, and it is not assigned a letter. More precisely, a letter is assigned to the flash drive, but a network drive is already associated with this letter (for example, F:\), as a result, the flash drive does not appear in Windows XP Explorer. You have to change the drive letter assigned to the flash drive to an unallocated one. There are two ways to do this.

The first way to change the hard drive letter

This way you can change the letters of all drives except the one on which Windows is installed. Typically this is the C:\ drive. But there is a way to change the system drive letter.

Second way to change the drive letter

This can be done in the Windows system registry. There is no particular need for poorly versed people to do this. Not recommended, as this may cause computer malfunction and loss of information on .

Before making any changes to the registry, it is recommended to make a copy of it (in the registry editor: File -> Export) and a backup copy of the system state and data located on the computer.

If, when installing or reinstalling OS Windows 10, the logical partitions of the disk were not named or were named inconveniently for the user, then they can be easily renamed. Use several built-in operating system tools. Let's figure out how to change the drive letter in Windows 10 without having any special user skills.

When starting to rename partitions, it would be wiser to create a backup copy of OS Windows 10 or designate a system restore point. This can be done in the Control Panel in the “Recovery” tab.

Using the standard Disk Management utility

The method will be available to users with administrator rights. The replacement procedure is as follows:
You can check the purpose of the letter through “This PC” on the desktop. If the letter has not changed, restart your computer or laptop. When changing the name of non-system partitions, problems with launching programs and applications should not arise. But if the user changed the system letter C, the consequences are inevitable. Programs will most likely stop starting because in their settings the path for storing data to start has remained unchanged, that is, drive C, which no longer exists.

Renaming keys using the Registry Editor

In order to rename the Windows 10 local drive letter in the registry, you need to perform a number of steps:
When the editor is closed, the changes will take effect. If not, the computer needs to be restarted.

Important! Use Registry Editor with extreme caution. Making mistakes can lead to OS malfunctions, data loss, etc. Therefore, it is better for an untrained user not to use this method.

Using the Command Line

To rename logical partitions, you can use the “DiskPart” command. It is launched on the command line. In the search menu on the Start panel, type " cmd» and press Enter. In the black window that appears with a blinking cursor, enter DiskPart and press enter. Then:
Close a window. Restart your computer.

Using Windows PowerShell

This is a resource built into the operating system that can be found either by searching in the Start panel or by right-clicking on the Windows icon in the Start panel.


When the resource window opens, you need to do:
To restart a computer. The Windows PowerShell tool will only work if the user has administrator rights. The same rights are required to use the registry. But if there is no particular need to change the partition letter, it is better not to rename it.

In this article I will describe step by step how to change drive letter in Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8. This does not require any additional utilities or programs; everything is done using standard Windows tools. In this example, I will change the drive letter from “G” to “D” (the drive can be renamed to any free letter).

Attention: You cannot change the drive letter where the Windows operating system is installed. It is usually installed on the drive with the letter "C".

On My Computer/ Computer/ This Computer shortcut (depending on the installed operating system Windows XP/Windows 7/Windows 8) right-click and select " Control". The "Computer Management" window will open. If for some reason the specified method is not suitable, the "Computer Management" window can be opened in another way, click "Start" - "Control Panel" - "Administrative Tools" - "Computer Management" (in the version Windows 8, you need to right-click in the lower left corner and select "Control Panel" - "Administrative Tools" - "Computer Management", in Windows 8.1 version, right-click on the "Start" button and select "Control Panel" - "Administrative Tools" - "Computer Management").

In the "Computer Management" window, click "Disk Management", select the drive whose name you want to change, right-click on it and select "Change drive letter or path..."

In the window that opens, select the drive and click the "Change" button.

Select an available drive letter.

After this, you will see another message stating that if you change the letter, some applications will not be available, click “Yes”.

Sometimes it becomes necessary to change the letter that names the drive. Why might this be needed? Let's look at the main reasons.

Why change the drive letter?

The first reason is the convenience of data storage. If important information is stored on the same drive where the system itself is installed (usually drive C), there is a risk of data loss due to possible Windows failures, which do not happen very rarely.

To protect data, usually one physical drive is divided into two, C and D. The operating system is installed on drive C, and all important information is stored on drive D. If it becomes necessary to reinstall the system, it is done on drive C, and this process cannot in any way harm the information stored on drive D.

The second reason is the desire for order in the system. It happens, of course, that someone simply has such a whim - to change the name of the disk from the letter D to the letter F, or another. However, this is usually not done on a whim, but to organize the devices in the list.

During Windows installation, the system assigns the letter C to the system drive, the letter D to the DVD drive, and assigns letters to all logical drives following D - E, F, G, etc. I really want to see all the disks listed in alphabetical order, and only then the drives and all other devices. To do this, it becomes necessary to change the letter that names the desired device.

The third reason is the use of authentication programs via a flash drive. Often flash drives are called not by a letter, but by names, and they are also identified by the system when connected. Applications that are related to authentication, for example, key programs installed on the computer for the client-bank system, are configured on a flash drive, which is designated only by a specific letter.

If another drive is connected, the flash drive with a different name does not allow the bank client program to turn on. In order not to change the settings of the authentication program, you can change the name assigned to the flash drive to a suitable letter.

You can change the drive letter using either special disk management programs or Windows tools. It is better not to get involved in this process without understanding the process and administration skills. But sometimes circumstances arise when it is necessary to change the drive letter.

However, before doing this, you should consider some features of this process.
1. To name hard drives, you can use letters from A to Z, 26 letters in total. Use the letters C to Z to name your hard drives. Letters up to C, A and B are initially reserved for disk drives, but if your computer does not have them, you can use the letters A and B to name other drives and removable media.

2. Many programs written for Windows and MS-DOS refer to the classic letters most commonly used in drive names. For example, as a rule, A is the disk drive, C is the system disk. Manually assigning other drive letters to these drives may prevent these programs from working correctly in the future.

3. Before you begin the process of changing the drive letter, make sure that the drive in question is not occupied by any processes or programs. If the disk is busy, end all processes and programs that are associated with it, and only then change the drive letter, otherwise these applications may not work correctly later.

Let's look at how to change the drive letter using Windows. This can only be done with administrator rights. The steps are the same for both Windows 7 and 2000/XP. So,
Changing the drive letter using Windows:

STEP 1.
Click “Start” - “Control Panel” - select (for win7 the “System and Security” tab) then “Administration”, then “Computer Management”, and then open the “Disk Management” item on the left.

STEP 2.
Select the desired disk, partition, or logical drive by right-clicking on it. From the drop-down menu, select “Change drive letter or drive path.”
STEP 3.
Click "Edit".

STEP 4.
Select "Assign a drive letter (A-Z)", if a letter is not already selected, select the letter you want to name the drive from the drop-down menu and confirm your choice by clicking "OK".
STEP 5.

Confirm your choice again - “OK”.

After the change, the drive, volume, or partition letter will change, and the new letter of the corresponding drive, volume, or partition will appear in the Disk Management menu. You can use it!


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