Windows 10: Query about allocating fixed Drive Letters to External Disk Drives

I have a few External Disk Drives and I have allocated fixed drive letters to each of them. Unfortunately, a few of them failed, or were given away, etc., and I am left in a bit of a messy state where I keep allocating the next alphabetical letter to any new drives, while some of the older fixed drive letter allocations are now null and void.

Is there a way in Windows 10 to know what drives (hopefully with volume labels) were allocated to what drive letters without having to mount each and every external drive I have.

I know that registry keeps a record of this in Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices, but I have no way to make head or tails of the binary info in there.

Any help pointing me in the right direction will be awesome.

:)

 

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.

 

External Hard Drive "is not accessible"

Hi Ridhwan,

Sorry for the delayed response. Let me continue to assist you further.

The issue here could have been due to fact that the Drive I:\ is encrypted or a flush drive. This forces the computer to not recognize the format and displays the error message. I suggest here to follow the steps below and check if it helps.

• Press Windows Key + letter 'X.'
• Choose 'Disk Management.'
• Right click on the External drive and select 'Change Drive letter and Path names.'
• Rename the drive letter i.e. remove letter I and say you replace it with letter
  J.
• Restart the computer and check the issue status.

Hope this helps. Please reply for further queries on this.

 

External Hard drive is not dectected in file explorer.

Hi Josh,



As you are facing issue with
External Hard Drive, we would assist you for sure.



In order to understand the issue in a better manner, please share the following details.

• 
  What is the make and model of the external hard drive?
  
• 
  Do you receive any error message related to the issue?
  
• 
  Have you assigned a drive letter for the external drive?
  

You might be facing the above issue due to the unallocated letter for the drive. Unallocated drives are those whose drive letters are not allocated when initially partitioned or after formatting. You will be able to view
the drive on your PC if you have allocated a drive name for the partition created. The drive will not be visible on the PC if you do not allocate a drive letter or a drive name.



The issue may also occur due to some of the system components conflicting with Windows 10 operating system on the PC.

OR

The issue that you face might be due to some of the Windows 10 hardware related files either going missing or corrupt. So, please follow the below basic methods to troubleshoot.



Method 1: Running the troubleshooter will help in detecting and identifying the issue and in certain cases will
fix to enhance the performance of the system. I suggest you to run the Hardware and Devices troubleshooter by following the steps below and check if the issue is resolved.

• 
  Press Windows
  logo key on the keyboard, type troubleshooter and select the top most search result.
  
• 
  Click on View all
  from left side panel of the screen.
  
• 
  Select Hardware and Devices,
  click on Advanced option and check Apply repairs automatically
  option.
  
• 
  Follow the on screen instructions and wait for the troubleshooting to complete.
  
• 
  After troubleshooting is completed, check for the status, close the window and check if the changes are effective.
  

Method 2:
I suggest you to try changing the drive letter of the drive and check if it helps.


Follow the steps to change the drive letter:

• 
  Press Windows
  + X keys and click on Disk Management.
  
• 
  Right click on the external drive and click on
  Change Drive letter and paths.
  
• 
  Click on Change
  the button.
  
• 
  Under Assign the following Drive letter, select the desired drive letter.
  
• 
  Click Ok to save changes.
  

Hope this helps. If the issue persists, please do let us know and we would be happy to help you further.



Thank You.