Windows 10: Lost drive letters in Windows 11

Hi Group,I am using Windows 11 File History to back up libraries on 2 new HP Laptops. Today, I checked File History on both of them and my external USB 1TB SSD drives' letters Z on both had been taken out. As a result File History wouldn't work at all until I unplugged the drives. I've done extensive virus/malware scans both online and offline with a clean bill of health. I reset both drive letters back to Z in Disk Management and File History is running again. This happened on one of the laptops before. I'm looking for a permanent fix for this. Any ideas?Regards, Randy

:)

 

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.

 

How to change SYSTEM drive letter to C from another letter

I am working on a step by step process to fix the computer for windows 11 upgrade. (Currently have Windows 10)

This was a built PC, but when my friend installed the OS for me somehow the windows install drive became the F drive.

Here is a view of disk management

I want to do the following (believe I need to do in this order).

1. Move windows install drive letter from F to C
2. Fix it so bootloader is MBR / on the SSD

Afraid of just changing the letter in disk management as the system will look for system files in the f-drive. I do have AOMEI partition assistant installed if that is useful for this task.
I really appreciate any help in how to do it.

 

Reformatting - Wrong Drive Letters?

Ok, do so googling about acronis True Image 11 and disk letters. Its the program I use to save all my info, and I know that people wee having troubles with the drive letters there. It was something about modifying the boot.ini and assigning drives. Anyway, I found this for you:

Change the System/Boot Drive Letter
Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
322756 (How to back up and restore the registry in Windows - Microsoft Support) How to back up and restore the registry in Windows
1. Make a full system backup of the computer and system state.
2. Log on as an Administrator.
3. Start Regedt32.exe.
4. Go to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices
5. Click MountedDevices.
6. On the Security menu, click Permissions.
7. Verify that Administrators have full control. Change this back when you are finished with these steps.
8. Quit Regedt32.exe, and then start Regedit.exe.
9. Locate the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices
10. Find the drive letter you want to change to (new). Look for "\DosDevices\C:".
11. Right-click \DosDevices\C:, and then click Rename.

Note You must use Regedit instead of Regedt32 to rename this registry key.
12. Rename it to an unused drive letter "\DosDevices\Z:".

This frees up drive letter C.
13. Find the drive letter you want changed. Look for "\DosDevices\D:".
14. Right-click \DosDevices\D:, and then click Rename.
15. Rename it to the appropriate (new) drive letter "\DosDevices\C:".
16. Click the value for \DosDevices\Z:, click Rename, and then name it back to "\DosDevices\D:".
17. Quit Regedit, and then start Regedt32.
18. Change the permissions back to the previous setting for Administrators (this should probably be Read Only).
19. Restart the computer.