Windows 10: Does anyone know where Windows stores the drive letter assignments?

May sound like an odd question but let me explain...

I had always assumed that it was keep locally within the Windows installation somewhere because when you plug a drive into a different computer it may get a completely different drive letter, even if the letter you gave it was available on that other PC.

Given that, consider this scenario:

I create bootable disks that serve multiple purposes.The first 2 partitions store a Windows image so that I can boot and install Windows from this disk.The next two partitions are just general purpose partitions that allow me to make use of the remaining space on the disk to store other data.

Since the first 2 partitions are dedicated to installing windows, when I have the drive connected to my PC in normal usage, I really don't need to see those partitions so I use Disk Manager to remove the drive letters from those partitions.

This is where it gets a bit odd. When I now boot from that disk, Windows setup will start, but when I get to the screen where I need to select what disk to install to, Windows setup tosses up an error saying that it can't find any disks and that a storage driver may be missing. If I boot back into windows and assign drive letters again, then it works just fine.

Clearly, removing disk letter assignments has an effect.

All was just to say that it got me curious about where this information is stored. Anyone know where I can find this info?

:)

 

help. USB drive isn't assigned a drive letter.

Any usb flash drive I plug into my computer isn't assigned a drive letter. The physical drive shows in the "safely remove hardware" but it doesnt show up in disk management. I have tried to populate the volume thru the safely remove hardware properties window and it does pop up in the list but it doesn't stay there. This isn't a format or assign a letter problem. It's more complicated then that. Maybe one of the services needed for usb drive management was disabled? Suggestions needed. btw external usb harddrives work fine.

 

Assigning Drive Letter

I am trying to assign a particular letter to one of my hard drives. None of my other drives are assigned that letter, but it is not listed in the choices. Is there something I can do?

 

Drive letters are not available for assigning to unallocated space

Hello Sjoerd,



Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.



The reason the drive letters are not available to assign are because they might have been assigned to devices which are removed or hidden. I suggest you to check for any hidden devices and remove them to assign the missing drive letters.



Follow the steps mentioned below to check for the hidden or removed devices.

1. Press Windows key + R. This will open
   Run. Alternatively, you can go to Start and search for Run.
   
2. In Run dialog box, type
   devmgmt.msc and hit enter.
   
3. Click on the view tab at the top left hand corner.
   
4. Now select View hidden devices.
   
5. Now look for the hidden devices under storage volumes and
   portable devices.
   
6. Right click on the hidden devices and click on
   uninstall.
   
7. Restart the PC.
   

After restarting the PC, try assigning the drive letter to the unallocated drive and check if the drive letters D, E, F, G, and H appears.



Hope it helps.



Regards,

Prakhar Khare

Microsoft Community – Moderator