Duplicate Drive Letters

[Dave Harding]

I have installed a new second hard drive. In the process
of installation as a slave then making it the master
WindowsXP has added duplicate "phantom" drives to my
system.

After removing the old drive and operating with the new
drive (renamed C using the registry per WindowsXP knowlege
base) I now have C:, D:, and G: drives, all identical!

I have tried to delete the "duplicate" drives using the
registry but the system locks.

When loading new hardware etc. the system seems to prefer
the default of the G: drive.

I tried to reload the C: drive driver as using that on the
C: drive but the system would not allow me to do so.

Help, how do I stamp out these critters?

Dave Harding

BTW, this is my third post asking for help, are there no
MVP persons skilled in this aspect of WinXP?

[Tom Porterfield]

How did you install XP on the new drive? You say you started with the
drive as slave and then made it master. Was that to copy your XP
installation from the old drive to new while it was slave? If so, what
tool did you use to do the copy? Provide some additional details. What
you started with, what you did, and what you are attempting to accomplish
are important details that will help in providing useful help.

--
Tom Porterfield
MS-MVP Windows XP & Smart Display
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/tp.porterfield/support

Please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup only.


Dave Harding wrote:
> I have installed a new second hard drive. In the process
> of installation as a slave then making it the master
> WindowsXP has added duplicate "phantom" drives to my
> system.
>
> After removing the old drive and operating with the new
> drive (renamed C using the registry per WindowsXP knowlege
> base) I now have C:, D:, and G: drives, all identical!
>
> I have tried to delete the "duplicate" drives using the
> registry but the system locks.
>
> When loading new hardware etc. the system seems to prefer
> the default of the G: drive.
>
> I tried to reload the C: drive driver as using that on the
> C: drive but the system would not allow me to do so.
>
> Help, how do I stamp out these critters?
>
> Dave Harding
>
> BTW, this is my third post asking for help, are there no
> MVP persons skilled in this aspect of WinXP?

[Dave Harding]

My system originally had two drives C and D. (I also have
E and F CD drives). I removed the D drive in order to add
the new drive.
I started by adding the second WD 60 gig drive as a slave
then used the WD floppy to Format and Partition (single).
Then I copied the files from the old C: to the new drive,
which was self labled as G:

I then swapped the G drive as the master and the C drive
as the slave. When I rebooted I found I now had C, D, G
and H.

I checked the knowlege base and then followed the
information to delete the H drive with the registry editor.

I also changed the G: and C: drive letters so the new 60
gig drive is now the C drive. Removing the slave and
rebooting now gives me C: D: and G:

Norton "sees" all of these drives and they check out!
Although the CMOS only sees the one correct drive.


Attempting to delete the D and G drive with regedit locks
the system.

In addition, I have just assembled a new bare bones
computer with one drive, and, using WinXP's file transfer
utility, it has transfered all the files correctly from
the "scitso" old machine to the C drive on the new machine.

TIA, Dave Harding

>-----Original Message-----
>How did you install XP on the new drive? You say you
started with the
>drive as slave and then made it master. Was that to copy
your XP
>installation from the old drive to new while it was
slave? If so, what
>tool did you use to do the copy? Provide some additional
details. What
>you started with, what you did, and what you are
attempting to accomplish
>are important details that will help in providing useful
help.
>
>--
>Tom Porterfield
>MS-MVP Windows XP & Smart Display
>http://mywebpages.comcast.net/tp.porterfield/support
>
>Please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup only.
>
>
>Dave Harding wrote:
>> I have installed a new second hard drive. In the
process
>> of installation as a slave then making it the master
>> WindowsXP has added duplicate "phantom" drives to my
>> system.
>>
>> After removing the old drive and operating with the new
>> drive (renamed C using the registry per WindowsXP
knowlege
>> base) I now have C:, D:, and G: drives, all identical!
>>
>> I have tried to delete the "duplicate" drives using the
>> registry but the system locks.
>>
>> When loading new hardware etc. the system seems to
prefer
>> the default of the G: drive.
>>
>> I tried to reload the C: drive driver as using that on
the
>> C: drive but the system would not allow me to do so.
>>
>> Help, how do I stamp out these critters?
>>
>> Dave Harding
>>
>> BTW, this is my third post asking for help, are there no
>> MVP persons skilled in this aspect of WinXP?
>
>
>.
>

[Tom Porterfield]

Again, what tool did you use to copy C to G? You need to use something
that runs outside of Windows. Usually new harddrives ship with utilities
that can be used to copy existing drives to new drives. If yours came
with such a utility, try that. If not, try one of the many available
tools such as Bootit NG from www.bootitng.com. You will need to start
over doing it this way, but the results will be more predictable.

--
Tom Porterfield
MS-MVP Windows XP & Smart Display
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/tp.porterfield/support

Please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup only.


Dave Harding wrote:
> My system originally had two drives C and D. (I also have
> E and F CD drives). I removed the D drive in order to add
> the new drive.
> I started by adding the second WD 60 gig drive as a slave
> then used the WD floppy to Format and Partition (single).
> Then I copied the files from the old C: to the new drive,
> which was self labled as G:
>
> I then swapped the G drive as the master and the C drive
> as the slave. When I rebooted I found I now had C, D, G
> and H.
>
> I checked the knowlege base and then followed the
> information to delete the H drive with the registry editor.
>
> I also changed the G: and C: drive letters so the new 60
> gig drive is now the C drive. Removing the slave and
> rebooting now gives me C: D: and G:
>
> Norton "sees" all of these drives and they check out!
> Although the CMOS only sees the one correct drive.
>
>
> Attempting to delete the D and G drive with regedit locks
> the system.
>
> In addition, I have just assembled a new bare bones
> computer with one drive, and, using WinXP's file transfer
> utility, it has transfered all the files correctly from
> the "scitso" old machine to the C drive on the new machine.
>
> TIA, Dave Harding
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> How did you install XP on the new drive? You say you started with the
>> drive as slave and then made it master. Was that to copy your XP
>> installation from the old drive to new while it was slave? If so, what
>> tool did you use to do the copy? Provide some additional details.
>> What you started with, what you did, and what you are attempting to
>> accomplish are important details that will help in providing useful
>> help.
>>
>> --
>> Tom Porterfield
>> MS-MVP Windows XP & Smart Display
>> http://mywebpages.comcast.net/tp.porterfield/support
>>
>> Please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup only.
>>
>>
>> Dave Harding wrote:
>>> I have installed a new second hard drive. In the process
>>> of installation as a slave then making it the master
>>> WindowsXP has added duplicate "phantom" drives to my
>>> system.
>>>
>>> After removing the old drive and operating with the new
>>> drive (renamed C using the registry per WindowsXP knowlege
>>> base) I now have C:, D:, and G: drives, all identical!
>>>
>>> I have tried to delete the "duplicate" drives using the
>>> registry but the system locks.
>>>
>>> When loading new hardware etc. the system seems to prefer
>>> the default of the G: drive.
>>>
>>> I tried to reload the C: drive driver as using that on the
>>> C: drive but the system would not allow me to do so.
>>>
>>> Help, how do I stamp out these critters?
>>>
>>> Dave Harding
>>>
>>> BTW, this is my third post asking for help, are there no
>>> MVP persons skilled in this aspect of WinXP?
>>
>>
>> .

[Dave Harding]

I used the floppy that came with my Western Digital HD.
It seems to be called "Data Lifeguard Tools".

If I start over I will need to rename my original C drive,
since I renamed it when swapping it with the new drive as
master and slave. It now thinks it's an H: drive, I think.

Dave


>-----Original Message-----
>Again, what tool did you use to copy C to G? You need to
use something
>that runs outside of Windows. Usually new harddrives
ship with utilities
>that can be used to copy existing drives to new drives.
If yours came
>with such a utility, try that. If not, try one of the
many available
>tools such as Bootit NG from www.bootitng.com. You will
need to start
>over doing it this way, but the results will be more
predictable.
>
>--
>Tom Porterfield
>MS-MVP Windows XP & Smart Display
>http://mywebpages.comcast.net/tp.porterfield/support
>
>Please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup only.
>
>
>Dave Harding wrote:
>> My system originally had two drives C and D. (I also
have
>> E and F CD drives). I removed the D drive in order to
add
>> the new drive.
>> I started by adding the second WD 60 gig drive as a
slave
>> then used the WD floppy to Format and Partition
(single).
>> Then I copied the files from the old C: to the new
drive,
>> which was self labled as G:
>>
>> I then swapped the G drive as the master and the C drive
>> as the slave. When I rebooted I found I now had C, D, G
>> and H.
>>
>> I checked the knowlege base and then followed the
>> information to delete the H drive with the registry
editor.
>>
>> I also changed the G: and C: drive letters so the new 60
>> gig drive is now the C drive. Removing the slave and
>> rebooting now gives me C: D: and G:
>>
>> Norton "sees" all of these drives and they check out!
>> Although the CMOS only sees the one correct drive.
>>
>>
>> Attempting to delete the D and G drive with regedit
locks
>> the system.
>>
>> In addition, I have just assembled a new bare bones
>> computer with one drive, and, using WinXP's file
transfer
>> utility, it has transfered all the files correctly from
>> the "scitso" old machine to the C drive on the new
machine.
>>
>> TIA, Dave Harding
>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> How did you install XP on the new drive? You say you
started with the
>>> drive as slave and then made it master. Was that to
copy your XP
>>> installation from the old drive to new while it was
slave? If so, what
>>> tool did you use to do the copy? Provide some
additional details.
>>> What you started with, what you did, and what you are
attempting to
>>> accomplish are important details that will help in
providing useful
>>> help.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Tom Porterfield
>>> MS-MVP Windows XP & Smart Display
>>> http://mywebpages.comcast.net/tp.porterfield/support
>>>
>>> Please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup only.
>>>
>>>
>>> Dave Harding wrote:
>>>> I have installed a new second hard drive. In the
process
>>>> of installation as a slave then making it the master
>>>> WindowsXP has added duplicate "phantom" drives to my
>>>> system.
>>>>
>>>> After removing the old drive and operating with the
new
>>>> drive (renamed C using the registry per WindowsXP
knowlege
>>>> base) I now have C:, D:, and G: drives, all identical!
>>>>
>>>> I have tried to delete the "duplicate" drives using
the
>>>> registry but the system locks.
>>>>
>>>> When loading new hardware etc. the system seems to
prefer
>>>> the default of the G: drive.
>>>>
>>>> I tried to reload the C: drive driver as using that
on the
>>>> C: drive but the system would not allow me to do so.
>>>>
>>>> Help, how do I stamp out these critters?
>>>>
>>>> Dave Harding
>>>>
>>>> BTW, this is my third post asking for help, are there
no
>>>> MVP persons skilled in this aspect of WinXP?
>>>
>>>
>>> .
>
>
>.
>

[Tom Porterfield]

OK, here is how I would proceed. First backup anything off of the new
drive that you would like to keep, things you have added since you copied
it from the old drive. Remove the new drive and put the original drive
back in the computer. Make sure it is set as master and that its
partition is the active boot partition. Boot into XP to make sure
everything is as it should be.

Once that is verified, shut down the computer and install the new drive as
slave. Boot using the WD floppy and use the utilities included on the
floppy to copy the old drive to the new drive. Remove the old drive from
the system and set the new drive as master, also making its C partition
the active boot partition. Boot the computer from the new drive and it
should come up fine with its main boot partition as C.

Once you have everything running the way you want from the new drive you
can add the old drive back as slave and use it for additional storage.

--
Tom Porterfield
MS-MVP Windows XP & Smart Display
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/tp.porterfield/support

Please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup only.


Dave Harding wrote:
> I used the floppy that came with my Western Digital HD.
> It seems to be called "Data Lifeguard Tools".
>
> If I start over I will need to rename my original C drive,
> since I renamed it when swapping it with the new drive as
> master and slave. It now thinks it's an H: drive, I think.
>
> Dave
>
>