Drive Letters Being "stolen"

I have never heard of the Windows Disk Manager. How do I access it? Is it in the Registry?

Access varies slightly with the OS version...

I'd try ....

Start
Programs
Accessories
System Tools
Computer Management
Disk Management
Right click on the CD/DVD .. and go from there.

Let us know.

VAPCMD

I still cannot find the part of Disk Management that would let me assign drive letters. I am running a desktop with Windows XP + Service Pack 3. I am totally blind and using only the keyboard, but there is a Context button that pretty much accomplishes the right-click function. Can someone tell me EXPLICIT INSTRUCTIONS step by step on how to (1) get to the place where I can actually assign drive letters; (2) actually make the changes; and (3) somehow "lock" them so that they will reliably stay put so they don't keep getting stolen as things are plugged and unplugged. Somehow, I have lost the Drive I: assignment that used to be for the I/Omega external hard drive.

I could find Disk Management, but I could not find a screen that would actually let me assign the drive letters. I hope that someone can provide me the exact instructions I need to solve the drive assignment problems on the computer.

click on the drives shown in the blocks where it shows the drive letters. Then click on change drive letters and paths.

It's easy from there.

VAPCMD

I found the disk management function, but USING THE KEYBOARD ALONE, I could not find the CHANGE button. It must be one of those damnable MOUSE-ONLY controls that Microsoft thoughtlessly made inaccessible to the blind. If you know of any way that the needed control can be found totally without the mouse, I would appreciate knowing about it. Otherwise, I wonder if there is any reputable company which can access my computer remotely and solve the drive-assignment problems. At this point, I cannot get all the drives to work together because one or the other keeps stealing a letter. Besides, I have not been able to get the system to assign any letter beyond the letter Q. I thought that the system should automatically assign drive letters up to Drive Z.

And I read a few posts and missed what version of Windows.

If a mouse cures the access issue, why not bow to the easy fix? Or is this a chapter about Don Quixote?

But about the OS. Some Windows allow changing the letters with the command line. Here's a google about it -> http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc757491(WS.10).aspx

If the forum eats the link, copy and paste it into your browser.

About the drive letter limit. In older Windows you had that LASTDRIVE variable. Google that? http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=getmouse&q=Windows+Lastdrive

Hope this helps,
Bob

I use n mouse because I am totally blind. I read my computer with a speech synthesizer. The screen-reading software has some "mouse emulation" keys, but I do not believe that they ABSOLUTELY duplicate ALL mouse functions.

Hope the command line helps you here.

I still missed what version of Windows but the drive letter issue is a very old "Windows Annoyance." There is no sign that this will ever be addressed.

In other operating systems they don't have driver letters. The other drive appears as some folder. If you think about it, that solves this issue in another way.
Bob

Hi, Bob, I am running Windows XP Service Pack 3. I do not know where Config.sys is located. I would hope that I could add a LastDrive= command to the Config.sys orthe Autoexec.bat file; but I do not know whether such a command actually works in Windows. I am familiar with it in DOS. I just wish I could somehow find a way to fix the darned drive letter problem so that I could get enough drive letters available for everything I am running. I have an old combination card reader/floppy drive which is not much good to me as a card reader since it won't read above a 4GB card. I could probably "safely remove" that drive, which would disconnect four drive ltters. But I don't know whether that would solve the problem. That combination unit now uses drive letters G, H, I, and J. The external hard drive went in as drive K for a time; the card reader that I actually use goes in as L, M, N, and O. When everything worked pretty well, Drive P and Q were the two drives I have in a NAS Box. But lately, that external drive has started stealing drive P so that I do not have access to network Drive P unless I reboot the computer and shut off the external drive. I know, of course, that being totally blind is a problem. I do not use a mouse because I cannot see it move on the screen. But I would think that there ought to be some way to solve the drive problem on the computer.

If I edit Config.sys (if I could find it), how do I safeguard the system so tat I could get back to a reliable boot if something goes wrong in that file? In a way, I wish I had access to a system like we have where I work: A reliable and well-trained worker goes into a computer needing some tweaking by some kind of remote desktop setup and solves the prolem. If there were a reliable company around that did that kind of service, I might approach such a company to see if they could solve the drive problem for me. It would seem to me that there ought to be a way to give me all the available letters and make them "stay put" for all the devices that remain connected. Any advice will be appreciated.

Now that we know which os. Let's see if anyone documented how to change the last drive.

http://www.google.com/search?&q=XP+LASTDRIVE

Ahh, since that is documented widely I will not write how here. You have plenty of web pages that tell how.

Let's see if there is a command line to change letters in XP.

http://www.google.com/search?&q=XP+COMMAND+LINE+CHANGE+DRIVE+LETTERS

Yes, the DISKPART command does that.

Looks like you can do this.
Bob