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Question

Have to assign a letter to Hard Drive

by Jan 23, 2014 1:09AM PST

I bought a hard drive (Western Digital) and a case (Vantec). I plugged it into the computer and help on the net suggested that it isn't recognized because I have to assign a drive letter and that it is a common problem.

Where does the problem lie? Is it Windows 7 or the case? Should I return the case or just assign a letter? Will the hard drive store the letter assignment or software? Will I have to do this on every computer?

Discussion is locked

5 Posts
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Answer
hard drive in case
by Jan 23, 2014 1:13AM PST

Then boot into windows and go to Disk Manager. There you can set it up and assign letter.

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Answer
I've added many type
by Jan 23, 2014 2:27AM PST

USB storage on my system and never had to assign a drive. I plug in the drive to the USB port. Then whether it was a flash drive or an external drive a message always pops up saying it's installing the device driver. Then the drive takes the next available drive letter.

I have an external drive that i use at home and it assigns it to the G drive and when I'm on the road and plug a flash drive it also assign the drive to G. I don't take the external when I' mobile so the flash replaces it.

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did you set it up first with....
by James Denison Jan 23, 2014 2:55AM PST

WD's software? Buying a drive and putting in an external case is different than buying one already setup in an enclosure. It's also different than taking a drive that's already been in use out of a computer and putting into an enclosure. It's a RAW drive, needing to be setup first and Windows won't assign it a drive letter until it has been. Is this drive larger than 2 TB?

http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/search/1/a_id/3865/c/130/p/227,482,484

http://support.wdc.com/product/kb.asp?wdc_lang=en&fid=wdsfRTL_DesktopMainstream

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how to set it up, initialize it.
by James Denison Jan 23, 2014 3:24AM PST
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Answer
Use Disk Management Tool
by Jan 24, 2014 6:34PM PST

After installing a new hard drive, you can assign/change the drive letter of a hard drive partition by using Disk Management tool.

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