How to Change the Boot Drive Letter in Windows XP
If you have made changes to your computer’s hardware configuration, such as the addition of a new hard drive, the letter assignments of your hard drives may have changed. If the letter of the drive used to boot your operating system changes, you’ll need to change the letter of the drive that Windows XP uses to boot. By default, Windows XP will look for the C: drive when booting, so the letter of the drive that you wish to boot from must be changed to \"C:.\" You should not change the boot drive letter unless you have changed the letter assignment of your hard drives, as doing so will cause the operating system to fail during the boot process.
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Instructions
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Back up all of your important files and then log onto your computer as the administrator.
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Go to the \"Start\" menu and click “Run.” Type “Regedt32.exe” and click “OK.”
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Scroll down to locate the registry key “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SYSTEM\\MountedDevices.”
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Click “MountedDevices” and then select “Permissions” from the Security Menu. Verify that the Administrator account has complete control of the computer from the Permissions window. If it does not, change the settings so that it does. Once complete, close “Regedt32.exe.”
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Return to the “Run” window and enter “Regedit.exe.” Click “OK.”
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Scroll down and locate the registry key “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SYSTEM\\MountedDevices.” Locate the C: drive, which will be labeled as “DosDevices\\C:” in the MountedDevices tab.
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Right-click on the drive and rename it with an unused drive letter. For instance, you can change “DosDevices\\C:” to “DosDevices\\Z:” provided that the letter \"Z\" is not already assigned to another drive on your system.
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Locate the drive that you would like to assign as the new boot drive and rename to “C:” using the same method used to rename the original C: drive.
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Close the Registry Editor and restart your computer. When the computer boots, it will boot using the new specified drive.
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Tips & Warnings
If you are uncomfortable editing the registry, consult a professional. Improperly assigning your boot drive can cause your computer to fail during startup and could even result in data loss.
References
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