Change the drive letter. How to change the drive letter in Windows. Methods for solving the problem

On computer forum sites you can often come across the question: how to change the disk name yourself in Windows 7? The need to rename a drive on the Windows 7 operating system may arise after reinstalling it, as a result of a software failure, when connecting several external drives, or for more convenient use of the PC.

If you decide to change the name of the disk yourself, then it is important to remember the fact that Windows 7 allows you to change the names of all disks except the system and boot ones (in most cases they are the same). If you still try to do this, then after changing the letter of the system partition (Disc C:) you will most likely encounter the following problem: operating system will stop starting completely, or will start halfway, and the programs installed on your computer will most likely be impossible to start and you will have to reinstall Windows again.

To change the name there is no need to additionally download any third-party programs. You can change the letter yourself using the operating system itself. The entire renaming process will take you no more than a minute.

To rename HDD You can use several methods convenient for you - by managing hard drives in the Administration (Control Panel) or through the registry editor regedit.exe.

First way

To begin, go to the Start menu and enter “Computer Management” in the search bar; after pressing the Enter key, the window necessary for further work will open. If there are no windows, then enter “Creating and formatting partitions hard drive" In the window that opens, select the “Storage Devices” category, and then the “Disk Management” category on the left.

Then you will see full list disks on the computer that are on this moment available for renaming. Just click right click mouse over the name you want to change and select the command “Change drive letter or path to...”.

In the window that pops up, from the other three buttons, select the “Change...” button to rename the letter.

You will be given a choice of 26 drive letters, starting with A and ending with Z. Please note! The letters C and Z can only be used to indicate hard drives. If your computer has a floppy disk drive, then the letters A and B are intended only for these devices and cannot be used to name drives. You will need to select the appropriate drive letter from the drop-down list, then click on the “Ok” button. To save the drive name change, you must confirm the Windows prompt “Some programs that use this drive letter may stop working. Do you want to continue?" If you agree with the condition that your manipulations may affect the performance of the operating system, then click “Yes”. After a couple of seconds, an autorun window with a new name will appear on the screen. The Disk Management window will also indicate the new name of the disk you renamed. The disk was successfully renamed. The above instructions are also relevant for changing the drive name in the Windows 8 operating system.

Second way

It involves editing the registry. To do this, you will need to open the registry editor. To do this, go to the Start menu, type the “Run” command into the search field and press Enter or press Win+R.

In the line that appears, enter “regedit.exe”. After this, you need to go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices.

After going to this address, the registry settings will indicate the letters of all the hard drives of your PC that are available for changing the name. To rename the hard drive, you will need to rename the option by simply entering the new drive letter. For example, rename the registry value “\DosDevices\D:” to “\DosDevices\E:”. To do this, right-click on the parameter you need and select “Rename” from the context menu.

To change the hard drive name Windows disk 7 You can also contact third party programs. To do this, you need to download any program for working with hard drives. One of the easy-to-use programs is MiniTool Partition Wizard». This program focused on working with disks. With its help, you can easily cope with name renaming, defragmentation, and also with varying disk sizes. To change the name are also paid programs"Artition Magic" or "Acronis".

All of the methods mentioned above are suitable not only for Windows 7, but also for versions XP and Windows 8, 10. Remember that to change the name you must have Administrator rights, otherwise all the manipulations carried out to change the name of the hard drive will not be successful.

Detailed review for Windows 10

Video tutorial for everyone's favorite version 7.

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Instructions

Let us immediately note that Windows will not allow you to rename the main or boot disk(usually the same drive), attempting to rename them will fail. You can try to implement this procedure through editing system registry, but without the proper skills there is no better way than this - there is a high risk that the system will refuse to boot at all. All other disks and logical volumes are available for renaming; the whole procedure takes no more than a minute.

To rename a drive in Windows XP, open Control Panel, then Administrative Tools. In it, open “Computer Management”. Option: Right-click the My Computer icon on your desktop and select Manage. In the left column of the window that opens, find “Storage devices” and select the “Disk Management” section.

A list of disks will appear in front of you at the top of the window; more information about them will be given at the bottom. detailed information. Click required disk right-click, in the menu that opens, select “Change drive letter or drive path.”

In the window that opens, click the “Change” button. A window will appear, select the letter you need in it. Click "OK", you will be warned that renaming the drive letter may make it impossible to run some programs - if they or their components are installed on this drive. If you agree, confirm your choice. You will most likely need to restart your computer. After you restart your computer, the renamed drive will be assigned the letter you selected.

The procedure for changing the drive letter in Windows 7 is very similar; you need to open the “Management” section and follow similar procedures. If you want to change two drives - for example, D and E, first select for one of them (let it be drive D) any free letter - say, F. After renaming, assign the free letter D to drive E, and then rename F to E.

Sources:

how to change disk volume

In most cases, users prefer to add some personality to what is visible in the system. hard drives, assigning labels to them. In other cases, you may need to change the drive letter.

Instructions

If you want to change the drive letter, then you will need to go to “Administration” through the “Control Panel”, where you select “Computer Management”, and then “Disk Management”. In the window that opens, by selecting any of the presented physical disks in the system, you can reassign its letter.

Disk names are assigned automatically by the operating system, using the Latin alphabet. the letter "C" is usually reserved for system disk, hereinafter referred to in order as local and removable. To change the drive letter, you need to follow a number of steps.

You will need

- computer.

Instructions

Please note that if you make a mistake in the system registry settings when changing the name of the system drive in the registry editor, or in another way, this may lead to serious problems that can only be solved by reinstalling the Windows operating system. Therefore, be extremely careful. Before the drive letter, make backup copy the state of your system and information located on your computer.

Restart your operating system and log in with administrator rights. Launch the Registry Editor by clicking the “Start” button, selecting the “Run” option and entering the Regedt32.exe command in the field.

Go to the registry key according to this path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM, then go to the MountedDevices section. Open the “Security” menu and select the “Permissions” sub-item. Set the Administrators group to have permissions full access, after completing all subsequent steps, the rights will need to be restored.

Exit the program. Run the Regedit.exe program in the same way. Go to the registry key according to the following path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM, select the /MountedDevices section, Find the parameter that contains the letter required to assign the drive. For example, DosDevices/C. Call context menu on the parameter, select the “Rename” option. You can specify a letter that is not currently used in the system, for example Z.

Find the setting that corresponds to the drive letter you want to change, for example /DosDevices/D. Right-click on the parameter, select the "Rename" option. Specify the name with a new drive letter, for example, /DosDevices/C. Next, call the context menu on the parameter /DosDevices/Z, using renaming, give it the name DosDevices/D.

Exit Regedit and run Regedt32.exe again using the Run command from the main menu. Revert back the permission options for the Administrators group, typically Read Only.

Problem changing drive letter or removable storage device in operating system Microsoft Windows can be resolved standard means systems without the use of additional third-party software.

Instructions

Go to "Control Panel" and select "Performance and Maintenance" to perform the operation of changing the letter of the removable drive.

Select the “Administration” item and double-click the “Computer Management” link.

Select the “Disk Management” node in the panel on the left side of the application window and call the context menu of the selected removable drive by right-clicking.

Select “Change drive letter or drive path” and click the “Change” button.

Go to the "Assign a drive letter (A-Z)" section and select the desired letter.

Click OK to execute the command and confirm the application of the selected changes by clicking Yes.

Return to the main Start menu and go to Control Panel to perform the operation of assigning a drive letter to a removable storage device.

Select "Performance and Maintenance" and select "Administration".

Call the context menu of the selected removable drive by right-clicking and select “Change drive letter or drive path.”

Click the "Add" button and go to the "Assign a drive letter (A-Z)" section.

Select the desired letter and click OK to apply the selected changes.

Return to the Disk Management menu and call up the context menu of the selected removable drive by right-clicking to perform the operation of deleting a drive letter.

Specify the command “Change drive letter or drive path” and click the “Delete” button.

Confirm applying the selected changes by clicking “Yes”.

Video on the topic

Sources:

How to change the drive letter in Windows XP

Each hard disk partition is assigned a specific letter by the operating system. But this does not mean that it cannot be changed. For example, you need to connect another hard drive, and to avoid confusion you want to assign new letters to some partitions. If on two hard drives there is a partition C, then, accordingly, on one of the hard drives it needs to be renamed.

You will need

- Computer with Windows OS;
- Norton PartitionMagic 8.0 program.

Instructions

The first way to rename partition C is to use standard operating system tools. Click Start. Select All Programs and go to Accessories. IN standard programs select Command Prompt. Run this tool. In the window that appears command line enter Compmgmt.msc.

The “Computer Management” window will open. On the right side there is a line “Storage devices”. Double left click on this line. In the next window, also double-click on the “Disk Management” line. A window will pop up containing a list of hard drive partitions.

Right-click on the drive and select “Change drive letter or drive path” from the context menu. Another window will appear in which you should select “Edit”. In the next window, click on the arrow located in the upper right corner.

A list of letters will appear, from which you can select a new one. If your C drive is the system drive, you will see a notification that some programs that use this letter may stop working after renaming, so be aware of this. Click Yes. After this, the drive letter will be changed.

It should also be taken into account that in some cases it is impossible to change drive C, if it is a system drive, using standard operating system tools. In such a situation, you will need additional software. Download Norton PartitionMagic 8.0 from the Internet. Install it on your computer's hard drive. Launch the program.

After launching it, the main menu will contain a list of hard drive partitions. Click on the With section with the right mouse button. Next, hover over the “Advanced” line. Several more context menu options will appear, among which select “Change drive letter.” Then click on the arrow and select the one you need from the list of letters. Click OK. Close the program. When you close it, you will be asked to change the settings. Accept it and restart your PC.

Video on the topic

Any computer or laptop has a hard drive - the main place for storing information. Typically, available memory is divided into sections, also called logical drives or partitions. The operating system assigns letters of the English alphabet to these disks, as well as a label-name; they are displayed in the “My Computer” window. Sometimes it is convenient to rename a logical disk so that the label matches the information stored on this partition.

Instructions

Open system folder"My computer". To do this, double-click the left mouse button on the icon on your desktop. If you have an operating system installed Windows system 7 or Vista, this icon will simply be labeled "Computer". A window will open with a list of your logical drives. By default, the partitions will be signed like this: “New volume (C:)”.

Right-click on the icon of the drive that you want to name in your own way. A context menu of actions and operations will appear. Find the “Properties” line in it. Left-click on this item and you will see a window with several bookmarks. There is no need to switch bookmarks; by default, the desired section called “General” is launched. At the top of the window, right below the list of bookmarks, you will see an empty line. Alternatively, this line may already contain the name or label of the logical drive.

In this article I will tell you in detail how to change the drive letter in different versions Windows operating systems. XP, 7 and 8 will be considered. In principle, all 3 cases are somewhat similar to each other. However, there are still small differences.

Windows XP

First, let's talk about Windows XP. The first thing to do is log in with an account that has administrator rights. Next, go to the “Start” menu, select “Control Panel” there.

Then click on “Performance and Maintenance”.

A window will appear in which we click on “Administration”, after which you need to double-click on the “Computer Management” line.

On the left side of the screen you will see a kind of panel with a number of available functions. There you need to select the item we need, namely “Disk Management”.

This concludes our journey to the place in Windows XP where you can change the drive letter. All that remains is to select the drive you need, right-click on it and select the line called “Change drive letter or drive path” from the drop-down menu.

To specify your letter, click "Change".

As a result, the user is offered a choice of all the letters of the Latin alphabet from A to Z. Select the desired letter and click “OK”.

A confirmation window opens before us again, in which you just need to click on the “Yes” button.

Ready! Congratulations, you have changed the letter local disk in Windows XP.

Windows 7

However, not all modern users currently have a computer equipped with the Windows XP operating system. Many have switched to the Windows 7 generation, so it would be advisable to write detailed instructions by changing the drive letter for this system as well.

In principle, the process is practically no different from XP, with the exception of some changes in the path to opening the final menu that displays local drives. And yet, how to change the drive letter of Windows 7? Let's look at it in more detail.

First, you need to open the well-known “Start” menu - in the lower left corner of the screen and select “Control Panel”.

Now click “Administration”.

Then double-click on the “Computer Management” line. There is important point. If on account administrator password, you will be prompted to enter it, otherwise you will not be able to continue with this operation. This is done so that the average user cannot make any changes without the supervision of an administrator.

After all the above operations, a window appears in front of you in which you will need to select the item: “Disk Management”.

Next, a list of all disks appears. From this point on, the process is no different from Windows XP. Right-click on the local drive that interests us and in the drop-down window select the line: “Change drive letter or drive path.” Click the “Change” button.

Select the appropriate letter from A to Z, and click “OK”.

A message will appear reminding you that programs located on this drive may no longer work. Click “Yes”.

Congratulations, you have successfully changed your hard drive letter in Windows 7.

Windows 8

Technological progress continues to steadily advance with huge strides. Hundreds of new gadgets, games and programs appear every year. Microsoft Corporation also keeps up with the global trend of the 21st century, and not so long ago it released a completely new operating system for named Windows 8. Many people around the world are gradually switching to this system. What should they do in a situation where they urgently need to change the local drive letter? After all, despite the fact that Windows 8 is just a slightly improved Windows version 7, it no longer has the familiar Start menu. Although it can be returned, I will talk about this in detail in another article.

To change the letter in Windows 8 you need to log in as an administrator.

Windows 8 has two interfaces - tiled and standard desktop. Our task is to launch the Control Panel, after which we need to repeat the steps as in the situation with Windows 7. In the tiled interface, just start typing the phrase “Control Panel” on the keyboard. As soon as you start typing text, the system will automatically search for applications and it will appear in the first place in front of you.

The Windows operating system always assigns a letter to all drives. Be it a floppy drive, DVD drive, flash drive, camera SD card, hard drive, and so on. But we are not always comfortable with how Windows assigns them.

Very often there is a situation when after the system drive “C” comes second hard drive, or partition, with the letter "E". A DVD drive with the letter "D". And “I want it in order.” In this article we will look at the question of how to change the drive letter of Windows 7.

This operation is very simple and quick, and does not require you to go deep into the system. The only note is that you cannot change the letter of the system partition “C”.

To work with disks in Windows there is special program– “Disk Management”.
There are several ways to launch it. I will consider only 2 of them.

1) Click the “Start” menu - right-click on “Computer” - select “Management”