Can not Change drive letter Windows 7

Anonymous
2009-09-29T22:10:31+00:00

The error message "disk Management console view not up to date" comes up everytime I try to change the drive letter for an external USB hard drive.   I tried diskpart but it only lists drives with letters.

OS Name Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate

Version 6.1.7600 Build 7600

Other OS Description  Not Available

OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation

System Name DAD-PC

System Manufacturer System manufacturer

System Model System Product Name

System Type X86-based PC

Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU         975  @ 3.33GHz, 3334 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)

BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. 0707, 8/18/2009

SMBIOS Version 2.5

Windows Directory C:\Windows

System Directory C:\Windows\system32

Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1

Locale United States

Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "6.1.7600.16385"

User Name Dad-PC\Dad

Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time

Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 12.0 GB

Total Physical Memory 1.49 GB

Available Physical Memory 655 MB

Total Virtual Memory 2.98 GB

Available Virtual Memory 1.40 GB

Page File Space 1.49 GB

Page File C:\pagefile.sys

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2009-09-30T13:31:30+00:00

Hello,

Hello TestPantaloon,

You must be logged on as an administrator to perform these steps.

If you don't like the letter Windows has assigned to a new drive or you want to organize your drive letters in a certain way, you can change the drive letter.You can assign the letters C through Z to each drive on your computer. A and B are usually reserved for floppy disk drives, but if your computer does not have floppy disk drives, you can assign A and B to volumes. You can see which drive letters are used on your computer by opening Computer.
<br> • Open Computer by clicking the<br>Start button, and then clicking Computer. <br> --- ---

You can change, add, or remove a drive letter by using Computer Management.
<br>1.      <br>Open Computer Management by clicking the<br>Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Maintenance, clicking Administrative Tools, and then double-clicking<br>Computer Management. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation. <br> --- --- <br> <br>2.      <br>In the Navigation pane, click<br>Disk Management. <br> <br>3.      <br>Right-click the partition or drive that you want to change, and then click<br>Change Drive Letter and Paths. <br> <br>4.      <br>Do one of the following:<br><br><br><br> • To assign a drive letter if one has not already been assigned, click<br>Add, click the letter that you want to use, and then click OK. <br> --- --- <br> • To change a drive letter, click<br>Change, click Assign the following drive letter, click the letter that you want to use, and then click<br>OK. <br> • To remove a drive letter, click<br>Remove, and then click Yes to confirm that you want to remove it.

Once you have done this, look in Computer, now simply right click to create a shortcut from there and it will put it on the desktop!

Hope this helps you. Let us know either way. Make it a great day!

Was this answer helpful?

7 people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

51 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2009-11-04T22:12:56+00:00

    Me too. Cannot assign drive letter to 2nd partition of external USB hard drive.

    MS must have a solution!

    Followed the suggestion to Refresh view, restart DM, restart computer.

    No problem addressing from dual-boot WinXP.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2009-10-18T21:52:57+00:00

    I'm having the same problem as Tomsandf but have not been able to resolve.  I'm following the steps as detailed (Disk Management... Change Drive Letter and Paths) but continue to get the same error: "The operation failed to complete because the Disk Management console view not up-to-date."  This happens for all USB external drives. This has been happening since I first upgraded to Win7 32bit.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2009-10-18T20:25:23+00:00

    I get the exact same error which is one of the few reasons I decided to downgrade to Vista 64 bit until Windows sort out the issues.  Disk Management shows the drive as online, but the usb flash drive will not show in my computer.  One thing I have noticed though is the fact that the first time I plugged the drive in I got a BSOD error stating Page file error in a non page file error.

    When I downgraded to Vista everything works great!

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2009-10-15T13:25:36+00:00

    Hi there,

    I get the same message when i try to change the drive letter.

    Strange things happen with windows 7, 64bit.

    My USB card reader is visible in the device manager and not in explorerer. I tried to change the drive letter, but somehow the system does not allow me (i am admin on this laptop).

    in the device properties I can populate the device, but when i leave the from and re-open, the drive letter is gone.

    At my wits end...

    Regards

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments