Hi, I have two Windows 7 on separate disks because in case something goes wrong I can use the other Windows. The Problem is that the one on the HDD is booting with drive letter F while it should be C which causes problems because this Windows was initially installed with the letter C. When I am in the SSD Windows it has letter I so there is some automatism that changes the letters from I to F. How can I get EasyBCD to change it from I to C when it boots? I tried BCB Backup/Repair/change boot drive, but this only changes the drive from where the boot menu is loaded. The help in EasyBCD is not very clear and vague so I hope somebody can help me.
Drive letter change
- Thread starter Huldrich
- Start date
Disk letters aren't "real".
They don't exist except in the mind of the running OS which maps them in the registry (or allocates them dynamically at boot time if you haven't created a permanent letter for any device/partition).
Because those letters are at best a registry entry, it follows that any Windows OS will not agree with any other OS what the letters are. (They each have their own totally independent registry map).
The fact that one OS sees the other as I is completely irrelevant to what it thinks of its own identity.
EasyBCD has absolutely nothing to do with it, and is incapable of affecting it.
There are no letters in the BCD, just UIDs.
Because those UIDs are so user-unfriendly, EasyBCD translates them to a letter which it takes from the registry map of the running OS.
When you give EasyBCD a letter, it merely looks up in the registry map which device UID you are referring to and puts that UID information in the BCD entry (not a letter).
Installing an OS as C and having that same OS undergo an accidental letter change is another matter.
That is a problem, but not one you can fix with EasyBCD. (it's not a boot problem, but a problem of the running OS)
How to restore the system/boot drive letter in Windows
It could possibly be simpler to fix.
If it was caused by you physically relocating your disk drives (As above, if you haven't given a letter to a partition, it will be allocated one dynamically, and the detection sequence at boot time might have already allocated C before it finds the relocated HDD)
You could try changing the HDD connections to make F be detected earlier than the other C.
It's a good idea to use Disk Management to assign your own letter map to all of your devices (all of those which it will allow you to alter), so that any ext HDD, flash drive etc is always given the same letter every time you connect it. It avoids costly confusion about what/where you're copying/deleting.)
They don't exist except in the mind of the running OS which maps them in the registry (or allocates them dynamically at boot time if you haven't created a permanent letter for any device/partition).
Because those letters are at best a registry entry, it follows that any Windows OS will not agree with any other OS what the letters are. (They each have their own totally independent registry map).
The fact that one OS sees the other as I is completely irrelevant to what it thinks of its own identity.
EasyBCD has absolutely nothing to do with it, and is incapable of affecting it.
There are no letters in the BCD, just UIDs.
Because those UIDs are so user-unfriendly, EasyBCD translates them to a letter which it takes from the registry map of the running OS.
When you give EasyBCD a letter, it merely looks up in the registry map which device UID you are referring to and puts that UID information in the BCD entry (not a letter).
Installing an OS as C and having that same OS undergo an accidental letter change is another matter.
That is a problem, but not one you can fix with EasyBCD. (it's not a boot problem, but a problem of the running OS)
How to restore the system/boot drive letter in Windows
It could possibly be simpler to fix.
If it was caused by you physically relocating your disk drives (As above, if you haven't given a letter to a partition, it will be allocated one dynamically, and the detection sequence at boot time might have already allocated C before it finds the relocated HDD)
You could try changing the HDD connections to make F be detected earlier than the other C.
It's a good idea to use Disk Management to assign your own letter map to all of your devices (all of those which it will allow you to alter), so that any ext HDD, flash drive etc is always given the same letter every time you connect it. It avoids costly confusion about what/where you're copying/deleting.)