How to Assign a Drive

Removable storage device you can assign a drive letter to.

Windows operating system, including Windows 7, Vista and XP, allows you to assign, change or remove drive letters not only on your computer's hard drives and CD/DVD drives, but also any removable drives attached to the system. Removable Universal Serial Bus (USB) and parallel port drives can also be assigned a drive letter. Drive letter assignments are generally made automatically by Windows, but you can manually assign or change a drive letter to your liking. Your Windows-based system can use up to 26 drive letters--"A" through "Z."

Things You'll Need

• Computer running Windows operating system

Instructions

Windows XP & Vista

1. Click "Start," "Control Panel" then "Performance and Maintenance." Use "Category View" and log in to Windows as an "Administrator" or within a "Administrator" group.

   If using Windows Vista, click "Start," "Control Panel" then "System and Maintenance."

2. Click on "Administrative Tools." Double-click on "Computer Management."

3. Click on "Disk Management" under the heading "Storage" in the left pane.

4. Right click on the drive under the heading "Volume" you want to assign a drive letter to. Click "Change Drive Letter and Paths..."

5. Click "Add."

6. Click on the circle next to "Assign the following drive letter:.."

7. Click on the down arrow on the box to the right of the wording "Assign the following drive letter:" Select the drive letter you want to use.

8. Click "OK." Your drive letter is assigned.

9. Click "File," "Exit" to exit the Computer Management application.

Windows 7

1. Right-click on the "Computer" icon on your Windows 7 "Desktop." Click "Manage."

2. Click on "Storage," "Disk Management" in the left pane of the Computer Management dialog box.

3. Right-click on the drive under the heading "Volume" you want to assign a drive letter to. Click "Change Drive Letter and Paths..."

4. Click "Add."

5. Click on the circle next to "Assign the following drive letter:.."

6. Click on the down arrow on the box to the right of the wording "Assign the following drive letter:" Select the drive letter you want to use.

7. Click "OK." Your drive letter is assigned.

8. Click "File," "Exit" to exit the Computer Management application.

Tips & Warnings

• Assign drive letters to your computer's drives before installing any software or programs on the drives. If you install programs first, the change in drive letter may cause the program to not be linked correctly within Windows.

• Assigning a different drive letter to your boot drive, "C:\," is not possible. Windows will stop you with a warning about your request to change the drive letter.

References

• Support.Microsoft.com: How to Change Drive Letter Assignments in Windows XP
• Windows.Microsoft.com: Change, Add, or Remove a Drive Letter
• Recipester.org: How to Assign Hard Drive Letter in Windows 7

Resources

• Forums Techarena.in: Assign a drive letter to any folder in Vista!