Windows 10: Unused USB ports consuming needed drive letters.

Discus and support Unused USB ports consuming needed drive letters. in Windows 10 Network and Sharing to solve the problem; I need to change the letter of one of my drives from "M:" to "G:" to fix a bunch of shortcuts. Unfortunately, Win10 has decided to permanently assign... Discussion in 'Windows 10 Network and Sharing' started by Mugsy'sRapSheet, Aug 16, 2020.

  1. Unused USB ports consuming needed drive letters.


    I need to change the letter of one of my drives from "M:" to "G:" to fix a bunch of shortcuts.


    Unfortunately, Win10 has decided to permanently assign a drive letter to every USB port whether there is something plugged into them or not.


    Result: I can't change the drive letter because "G:" has been assigned to an empty USB port. And since there is no drive plugged into it, the drive/partition does not appear in "Computer Management" so I can assign it to something else to free it up.


    Very annoying. Is there a fix? TIA

    :)
     
    Mugsy'sRapSheet, Aug 16, 2020
    #1
  2. Lazzer408 Win User

    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.
     
    Lazzer408, Aug 16, 2020
    #2
  3. cbotari Win User
    stop win assigning usb drive letter

    How do I stop windows from assigning drive letters to unused USB ports?
     
    cbotari, Aug 16, 2020
    #3
  4. Unused USB ports consuming needed drive letters.

    Windows 10 changing USB port drive letters

    Hi Joseph,

    Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community.

    I understand the inconvenience you are facing currently.

    I would appreciate if you can provide us the following information to help us understand the issue better.

    • Since when are you facing this issue?
    • Did you make any changes in prior to this issue?
    I would like to inform you that the issue might have occurred due to some changes made to your computer.

    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 the information helps. Please let us know if the issue persist and we will be happy to assist you further.
     
    Nachappa C K, Aug 16, 2020
    #4
Thema:

Unused USB ports consuming needed drive letters.

Loading...
  1. Unused USB ports consuming needed drive letters. - Similar Threads - Unused USB ports

  2. NEED HELP WITH USB PORTS

    in Windows 10 Gaming
    NEED HELP WITH USB PORTS: Hi. I have a problem with my USB port. I have 3 USB ports and my flashdrive is not detected. But my SD/TC card slot is functioning. I plugged my Flasdrive and opened device manager and the flash drive is not detected also. But with other computers, the same flash drives is...
  3. NEED HELP WITH USB PORTS

    in Windows 10 Software and Apps
    NEED HELP WITH USB PORTS: Hi. I have a problem with my USB port. I have 3 USB ports and my flashdrive is not detected. But my SD/TC card slot is functioning. I plugged my Flasdrive and opened device manager and the flash drive is not detected also. But with other computers, the same flash drives is...
  4. Unused Printer Ports

    in Windows 10 Gaming
    Unused Printer Ports: Windows 11I have an unused printer port old that is no longer in use.I tried to delete the port but I get the message the resource is in use.How do I delete this port?Thanks Bruce...
  5. Unused Printer Ports

    in Windows 10 Software and Apps
    Unused Printer Ports: Windows 11I have an unused printer port old that is no longer in use.I tried to delete the port but I get the message the resource is in use.How do I delete this port?Thanks Bruce...
  6. usb drive letters

    in Windows 10 Network and Sharing
    usb drive letters: when i put a usb flash drive in my notebook,drive letters from D to M come up wanting me to format them all. what can i do to fix this? every flash drive i have is doing it....
  7. USB ports, and dvd drive

    in Windows 10 BSOD Crashes and Debugging
    USB ports, and dvd drive: I have a hp 15 laptop. as soon as the warranty expired the dvd player/burner quite working. it says insert disk and when I put an disk it, it does not spin to read it , it just says no disk. The next problem it has is I have a 8 in one card reader that I`ve used many times...
  8. Permanently assign drive letters for USB drives

    in Windows 10 Drivers and Hardware
    Permanently assign drive letters for USB drives: Hi, I run a backup script to different USB drives at different times. The backup script always needs to see the same drive letter for the USB drive (whichever USB drive is being used). I know you can run compmgmt.msc, select Disk Management and then click 'Change...
  9. How to make a USB port/connection letter persistent?

    in Windows 10 Drivers and Hardware
    How to make a USB port/connection letter persistent?: The USB port drive letter periodically switches between D and E messing up my scheduled Macrium Reflect daily backup. The free version will not send an error email so I frequently end up missing a number of days before I happen to check my wife's laptop. I'm not sure of...
  10. Removing unused USB drives

    in Windows 10 Drivers and Hardware
    Removing unused USB drives: On my journey to understanding why Auto Play doesn't work on my PC, I discovered that the PC would often rescan my devices upon reboot, and it would list a phantom CD drive until the scan completed. After running the utility in the link (it came from a Symantec thread), I no...