Solved Change Secondary Drive Letter Without Breaking Everything

jcracken

When narwhal bacon?
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Hi,

I have two drives in my laptop--one is a 60 gb SSD that I installed in the ODD slot and the other is the 250 GB HDD that came with the laptop. I installed Windows 8 on the SSD and put all my files and the majority of my programs on the HDD. The problem is that the HDD was originally partitioned into two, and I would install all my programs onto the second partition, since that was my data one. Windows 8 assigned C as the drive letter for the SSD, D for the first partition and E for the second partition. My problem is, though, I got rid of the D Drive because it was a hosed Windows 7 install that I was keeping just in case I forgot to backup something, but now no longer need. It annoys me now to have a C Drive and a E Drive--I would like to rename the E drive to a D. However, since all my programs are on the drive, I don't want to break all of the start menu links and the like. Is there a way to do this without any pain?

Thanks
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows Consumer Preview
    CPU
    i5-520M
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 3000
    Screen Resolution
    1280x800
    Hard Drives
    256 GB 5200 RPM HDD
edit:wrong issue
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 7 x86,7 x64, 8 x64, xp
    CPU
    2500k
    Motherboard
    asus p8p67 pro
    Memory
    16 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    ati hd4850
Use either completely at your own risk. Be sure and read the notes to the read in this link. Here is a link that has to do with changing drive letters in Win7. Not going to speculate on whether the read applies exactly to Win8.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7 Ult on DIY; Win8 Pro on MBP/Parallels; Win7 Ult on MBP/Boot Camp; Win7 Ult/Win8 Pro on HP
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    DIY Rig; MacBook Pro (MBP)/Parallels/Boot Camp; HP Pavilion dv6500t Laptop
    CPU
    Intel i7-2600K (sometimes OC'd to 4.8 GHz)
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8P67 Deluxe Rev B3
    Memory
    16 GB Corsair Vengeance
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 570 SC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Gateway
    Hard Drives
    Dual Boot:
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on OCZ Revo x2 and
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on Caviar Black SATA 3's
    PSU
    Cooler Master Silent Pro 1000W
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    Cooler Master 932 HAF
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    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
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    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Internet Speed
    20 Mbps Download/2+ Mbps Upload
    Other Info
    Pioneer Blu-ray Burner/DVD Burner
Use either completely at your own risk. Be sure and read the notes to the read in this link. Here is a link that has to do with changing drive letters in Win7. Not going to speculate on whether the read applies exactly to Win8.
I know how to change the drive letters, I just want to know if everything will break by doing it (like the start menu links) and if so, if there was a way to have everything that links to something in E to redirect to the same directory on D drive.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows Consumer Preview
    CPU
    i5-520M
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 3000
    Screen Resolution
    1280x800
    Hard Drives
    256 GB 5200 RPM HDD
I am not willing to state an opinion. Like I said; do at your own risk.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win7 Ult on DIY; Win8 Pro on MBP/Parallels; Win7 Ult on MBP/Boot Camp; Win7 Ult/Win8 Pro on HP
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    DIY Rig; MacBook Pro (MBP)/Parallels/Boot Camp; HP Pavilion dv6500t Laptop
    CPU
    Intel i7-2600K (sometimes OC'd to 4.8 GHz)
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8P67 Deluxe Rev B3
    Memory
    16 GB Corsair Vengeance
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 570 SC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Gateway
    Hard Drives
    Dual Boot:
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on OCZ Revo x2 and
    Win7 Ult RAID 0 on Caviar Black SATA 3's
    PSU
    Cooler Master Silent Pro 1000W
    Case
    Cooler Master 932 HAF
    Cooling
    Zalman CNPS9900MAX-B CPU Fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Mouse
    Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500
    Internet Speed
    20 Mbps Download/2+ Mbps Upload
    Other Info
    Pioneer Blu-ray Burner/DVD Burner
Unfortunately there is no easy way for you accomplish what you want to do as indicated above. Your installed programs will not work, your shortcuts from start menu will be broken, Uninstallers also be broken since all references are changed from E: to D:

When you install a program, information will be put in the registry and scattered all over, below are registry entries that I can think of:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Installer\Products
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software

You would have to export them and manually use the notepad editor to change from E: To D: and import them back to the registry and also you have to manually fix those broken shortcuts.

Is it worth the effort to do it ? the answer is NO, It is better & cleaner for you to uninstall them and reinstall.

Having said that, Why would you want to install your applications in a different drive ? Your 60GB SSD is having plenty of room for your applications. In my PC, I have a lot of applications installed and it only takes 40GB and that included the pagefile.sys and Hiber.sys which occupy close to 8 GB. In addition, your application performance would improve since you are running it from SSD.

Most people don't realize that when they install an application, the installer not only put the executable in C:\Program Files or C:\Profiles(x86), it also put the .DLL files and Drivers in C:\Windows and C:\Windows\System32 etc... so how much space would you save ? To prove apoint, go to your C:\Program Files or C:\Program Files(x86), right click on some of installed folders and click on Properties, You'll see how much space it takes.

Hope I give you enough info to make your decision.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
Unfortunately there is no easy way for you accomplish what you want to do as indicated above. Your installed programs will not work, your shortcuts from start menu will be broken, Uninstallers also be broken since all references are changed from E: to D:

When you install a program, information will be put in the registry and scattered all over, below are registry entries that I can think of:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Installer\Products
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software

You would have to export them and manually use the notepad editor to change from E: To D: and import them back to the registry and also you have manually fix those broken shortcuts.

Is it worth the effort to do it ? the answer is NO, It is better & cleaner for you to uninstall them and reinstall.

Having said that, Why would you want to install your applications in a different drive ? Your 60GB SSD is having plenty of room for your applications. In my PC, I have a lot of applications installed and it only takes 40GB.

Most people don't realize that when they install an application, the installer not only put the executable in C:\Program Files or C:\Profiles(x86), it also put the .DLL files and Drivers in C:\Windows and C:\Windows\System32 etc... so how much space would you save ? To prove apoint, go to your C:\Program Files or C:\Program Files(x86), right click on some of installed folders and click on Properties, You'll see how much space it takes.

Hope I give you enough info to make your decision.


Yeah, I guess it's not worth the effort. As to you saying that I can fit everything on my 60 GB SSD, Windows alone takes up about 30 GB for some reason. On top of that, I just checked the folder where I keep all of my programs--it's over 60 GB's by itself. (Exactly 67.2). As you can see I cannot fit everything on my SSD.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows Consumer Preview
    CPU
    i5-520M
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 3000
    Screen Resolution
    1280x800
    Hard Drives
    256 GB 5200 RPM HDD
Yeah, I guess it's not worth the effort. As to you saying that I can fit everything on my 60 GB SSD, Windows alone takes up about 30 GB for some reason. On top of that, I just checked the folder where I keep all of my programs--it's over 60 GB's by itself. (Exactly 67.2). As you can see I cannot fit everything on my SSD.
Windows alone will not take 30GB, you must have a lot of restore points created, temp files, Windows update files etc...
and I am also curious of what applications you have installed to occupy over 60GB.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
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