Computers usually contain more than one drive, which would be either a hard disk drive or optical drive. These devices are indicated in a system by letters. For example, the letter “C” is commonly used to identify the system's hard drive. Changing drive letters is accomplished by using the Windows® operating system’s Disk Management system. The following steps describe how you can easily customize drive letters.
Instructions for MS Windows®:
- Click on the “Start” button and right-click on “My Computer” (“Computer” for Windows Vista® and Windows® 7) and then choose “Manage”.
- The “Computer Management” windows will open, extend the “Storage” category in the left navigation pane and click on “Disk Management".
- In the right part of the window, you will see all the drives displayed on your computer. Right-click on the drive you would like to change and choose “Change Drive Letter and Paths…”.
- In the next dialog box, click on the “Change” button.
- In the next dialog box, select the desired letter from dropdown menu next to “Assign the following drive letter:”.
- Click on the “OK” button and then click on the “YES” button in the warning dialog box.
- Then close “Computer Management”.
Tips and Tricks:
- You can also change the name of the hard drive through “Disk Management”. Right-click on the hard drive and choose “’Properties”. In the “General” tab, insert the name into the first field.
Warnings:
- Be aware that any applications or shortcuts pointing to the previous drive letter may not work properly and should be changed.
