In http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=282530 Microsoft writes "it may be useful to configure your computer so that drive letters are less likely to change after you add a new hard disk or CD-ROM."
The key words here are "less likely." Microsoft apparently never supplied a means to assign drive letters and make them stick.
To fix your software that looks at a specific drive, I find that after all the changes and letter assignments that I can uninstall and reinstall and the software will use the new letter.
Be sure to get the updated FDISK from http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=263044 titled "Fdisk Does Not Recognize Full Size of Hard Disks Larger than 64 GB"
The placement of what drive where was for very old hardware. Today's machines are not as sensitive to have to move drives about like this.
Best of luck,
Bob
I am about to:
1. Add a 120 GB hard drive.
2. Replace a CD-ROM with a DVD reader.
I have a Win98se system with a 20 GB harddrive that is to remain as the primary since I don't want to re-install the OS. I will probably partition the 120 GB drive. My 20 GB has less than 1 GB free now and I want to move some stuff off it to another drive, clean out what I don't want, then defrag it (it's getting kinda' slow).
Here are the caveats:
1. It appears I need the DVD, which I am about to replace my CD-ROM with, to stay as drive D, due to the fact that I have at least one older game I want to be able to play that seems to require the CD to be in the D: drive. (I tried running it from the E: (cd writer) drive and it attempted to start but then told me it was looking for files in the D: drive. I posted a question on a forum for tech support for this game (user supported, since it is an older game) and after two days have had no response).
2. When I installed the CD writer the documentation advised whether it should be on the primary IDE or secondary IDE and the master/slave setting for optimum timing for burning CD's. I don't recall which it was and won't know until I open the case again. I know I can check this in device manager but I am away from that PC at the moment.
Basically I would like any recommendations as to:
1. Forcing the new drive start with F:, since the optical drives seem to need to stay as D: and E:. I know I can specifically set them in Device Manager, Properties, but will this then force the new drive to skip those letters?
2. What size and how many partitions for the new hard drive do you recommend? I realize this can depend on what I want to use it for but I have seen some info that says only use multiple partitions if you want to have multiple OSs and sometimes to separate data from the OS partition. I intend to have at least one partition to Ghost my 20 GB HD as a backup, based on recommendations at the Radified Guides site http://radified.com/index2.html and put lesser used items but ones I still want on HD in another partition. I wanted to get some other input apart from that website just to broaden my perspective.
3. Where to locate each device, for example, should the second hard drive be on IDE2 or on IDE1 with the primary HD? I have been told that location can affect the drive letter assignment. Also suggestions on if you think it matters where the cd-writer is.
4. Any other relevent issues I should be considering.
Thanks in advance, I eagerly await your wisdom.

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