Windows Tools, Help & Guides

Do you run backups to, open files from, or simply use a USB thumb drive? If you do, this guide is for you.

Have you noticed that each time you put your USB thumb drive in your computer, it comes up with a different letter? If you have more than one external drive/camera/portable hard drive then this is likely the case.

This can be frustrating when trying to run backups or opening files in a piece of software to find it can’t find the recent location because the drive letter changed.

Here are the steps you will need to take to assign a permanent drive letter.

NOTE: The instructions are shown here in Vista. I have tested this in XP and the procedure is the same.

? Go to Start > Run (or press “Windows Key+R”)
? Type mmc in the box and hit enter. (Click continue if prompted)

? Microsoft Management Console will now open. Select File > New
? Now select File > Add/Remove Snap-in… (or press “Ctrl+M”)
? Select “Disk Management” and click “Add”

? Select “OK“.
? Select “This computer” and hit “Finish”

? Now press “OK” on the “Add or Remove snap-ins” screen.
? Now select “Disk Management” from the left menu.

? You will now see all of your drives/partitions in the right panel.
? Right click the USB drive you want to assign a permanent letter to and select “Change Drive Letter and Paths…”

? Click on “Change…”

? Select a permanent letter (preferably a letter that appears later in the alphabet)
? Click “OK”
? It will warn you about making the change – there is little chance programs you use will be affected by this. If they will, you will probably already be aware of this so don’t worry.
? The final step is to select File > Save and save the file in the default directory. Close the Console and you are done.

Test this by ejecting your USB media and putting it back in. It should come up with the new letter you assigned it.

Free PC tips by email