Windows 10: Permanent Drive Letters for External Devices

I seem to recall in the past that if I assigned a drive letter to an external device it would always be that letter whenever I plugged it in. Right now any external device I connect just takes the next letter after the devices that are currently connected. Is there a setting somewhere that will do this for me?

:)

 

unrecognised external hard drive on Windows 10

Since you already reinstalled the drivers of the External Hard Drive, let's run the
Hardware and Devices troubleshooter as it can resolve your concern. You can do that by following these steps:

• 
  Press the Start button.
  
• 
  Type and select Troubleshooting.
  
• 
  Click on View all on the left panel.
  
• 
  Select and run the Hardware and Devices troubleshooter.
  

If the Hardware and Devices troubleshooter doesn’t resolve your concern, we suggest that you change the letter of the External Hard Drive. You can do that by following these steps:

• 
  Press the Start button.
  
• 
  Type and select Control panel.
  
• 
  Select System and Security.
  
• 
  Select Administrative Tools, and a new window will appear.
  
• 
  Double-click Computer Management, and a new window will appear.
  
• 
  Select Disk Management that is located under
  Storage in the left pane.
  
• 
  Right click on the External Hard Drive that is not showing on the File Explorer.
  
• 
  Select Change letter and network path, and a new window will appear.
  
• 
  Select Change, and choose the letter that you want for the External Hard Drive.
  

After changing the letter of the External Hard Drive, we suggest that you reboot your laptop for the changes to take effect.



Let us know how it goes.



Regards.

 

What has happened to the additional drives that appeared in the Windows Explorer for external USB devices

Hi Alan,

Welcome to Microsoft Community. Your interest in Windows 10 is much appreciated.

For better understanding please answer the below questions:

• Does the USB drive shows in the Device Manager?
• Is the computer detecting the connected USB devices?
• Have you checked the USB drives on the different computers?

I would suggest you to try the below methods and check if that helps:

Method 1:

Check if you are able to see the USB External DVD drive in Disk Management. If you are able to see the USB External DVD drive in Disk Management, follow the steps to assign the drive letter:

• Press Windows key + X.
• Select Disk Management.
• Right-click the drive that you want to change, and then click Change Drive Letter and Paths.
  

Do one of the following:

• To assign a drive letter if one has not already been assigned, click
  Add, click the letter that you want to use, and then click OK.
• To change a drive letter, click Change, click Assign the following drive letter, click the letter that you want to use, and then click
  OK.

Method 2: I would suggest you to un-install and reinstall USB controllers and check. This method resolves steps where the currently loaded USB driver has become unstable or corrupted.

• Press Windows key + X.
• Select Device Manager.
• Expand Universal Serial Bus controllers.
• Right click a device and click Uninstall.
• Repeat for each device. Once complete, restart your computer.
• Your USB controllers will automatically install.

Keep us posted if you face any issues on windows in future. We will be glad to help you.

 

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.