xp assigning random drive letters

is disk 1 is a removable drive ? and Which Mobo u r using at present ??

did u chk viruses?

AVG fully updated does not detect any virus
For sure this is not a virus problem as it has happened with me on 2 desktop & 1 laptop all running in different environment using different config but yes few common softwares.....so may be some software is causing this problem.

The present system uses asus mobo P5B dlx & the 2 hdd are seagate sata2 disk, I am getting this problem on every 2-3 boots randomly.

More over this problem on my new comp started last 5 days ago, before that its been running fine since january so something must have triggered this problem, I did a system restore to 1 week back & yet the problem remains, so it seems some XP setting is an issue & system restore is not helping me either

2 suggestions...

1. Reset the Bios once.. !!
2. Try with another OS, a test installation of Either Windows 2000 or Vista or Server 2003 !!

Does the BIOS have anything to do with it?
I know that the XP logical disk manager automatically assigns it.
I will reset the bios & try.

For separate OS can I use it under Microsoft virtual PC?

For separate OS can I use it under Microsoft virtual PC?

Click to expand...

No.. that would use a Emulated bios not the actual Motherboard BIOS !! therefore do a clean installation of the 2nd Test OS !!

Doesn't seem like BIOS problem. Ranjan, you say the PC was running fine till Jan. Then after Jan did you install any software. You can try restoring the pc to Jan using the XP restore wizard. Usually when some software is installed, they create a system restore point in xp. Just post wht u installed after Jan.

One thing I noted about the second partition is that it is marked as Dynamic instead of Basic... Could this be the problem? If you believe that this could be the cause and you dont need a Dynamic disk, you can convert it back to a Basic disk using instructions at *support.microsoft.com/kb/309044/EN-US/ - but note that you will need to backup files and format the partitions...


EDIT: On afterthought, here is a more direct and simple solution: Set your CD Drives to G: and H: or something far away rather than trying to set the partition letters for the second disk... This should solve your problem...

Arun

The Unknown said:

Doesn't seem like BIOS problem. Ranjan, you say the PC was running fine till Jan. Then after Jan did you install any software. You can try restoring the pc to Jan using the XP restore wizard. Usually when some software is installed, they create a system restore point in xp. Just post wht u installed after Jan.

Click to expand...

this problem on my new comp started last 6 days ago, at that time I installed a network monitor utility called 'My vital agent" its a free ware but no more available on the net. This is also a common software which wason all the systems I had faced this problem butI still feel this software is not the cause bcoz it has been running fine for many monhs suddenly this problem happens.

its been running fine since january till last 6 days ago I did a system restore to 1 week back & vital agent is not on my system yet the problem remains, so it seems some XP setting is an issue & system restore is not helping me either.

sakumar79
Thanks for the link.
Whats the difference between basic & dynamic, I am not aware of this but this has been the case on my last comp too. u may be right that this might be the source of the problem.

Tried to add some comments yesterday but for this thread, my post was not coming up... Not sure why...

Try the suggestion in my EDIT of earlier post and see if it helps...

Arun

Sorry Ranjan, I can't help u. Really Sorry.

No problems man at lesat u tried, last 3 boots its working fie but I know this problem will happen again & that time I will apply few suggestion mentioned here.

The problem is NOT with the OS or VIRUS.

The problem is either with your Hard Disk or Hard disk Cable.

Some times it doesnot get initialized or take more time to get initialize while booting.

Just replace your IDE or SATA cable - whatever you are using on that drive.

Run Seatool (if Seagate HDD) or relevent tool to find out the integrety of your hard disk.

Try to set delay in hard disk detection in BIOS - if it is there.

This will solve your problem positively.

Cheers !!

Sarvesh seems u did not read the post carefully.
I have faced this problem on 3 different systems, running different hardware config.
1 laptop 2 yr old
1 desktop 4 yr old
1 desktop brand new

R u saying all these have or had faulty IDE cables?
----------------------------
menwhile the update is that last 2 days it worked fine & today 1st boot the problem surfaced again so I did the following

reset the bios.......did not help
changed the drive letters to x y z but .........that did not help

so it seems I am heading towards a reinstall.
any more suggestions???

Did you try changing cd drive's letters or hdd's letters? You should change cd drive letters and let the second hdd have e, f, etc... If that did not help, my suggestion is that you backup the hdd, reformat as basic hdd and then copy back the data...

Arun

MY C & D dont change
E & F change ( not a back up disk) & get exhnaged with my 2 CD/dvd drives
E & F I store my data on these.

So I change as per ur suggestion the CD/dvd drives to X & Y drive letters, booted once after doing that as of now no problem, it happens randomly so will get to know in 3- 4 boots only......so I have to wait 1-2 days else reformat.

Ok. Keep your fingers crossed... But prepare yourself in case you need to backup

Arun

It seems there is some problem with you XP installation CD.

May be you are installing XP on your every system using the same cd so the problem is on every system.

Otherwise xp doesn't have this type of problem.

What partitioning software you are using ? is it 48bit.

As I told you try to set the delay for HDD detection in BIOS since some large HDD's don't get initialized while booting and get detected after the OS (XP) has booted - So the OS assigns the last drive leters to those drives.

no I have 2 separate XP pro CDs I is recent bought in jan so its XP sp2.
I partitioned while loading XP did not use any softawre. Last 3 boots the problem has not happened so my be the above solution seems to be working.

6th boot & the problem is back again & surprisingly now the cd/dvd drives which were assigned X & Y letter did not get exchanged with E &F instead E &F got back to old G & H

?????????????????????????? weired but I cant find any solution to it.

Really weird... Sorry that my advices did not work out... I guess you should reformat the hdd and make it a basic hdd... Well, the weekend is coming up and I guess that would be the best time for it... Best of luck...

Arun

Its actually strange & I am suspecting that few common software which have been on all 3 system is creating this issue not XP.
1 of them is magicISO could that be a source of the problem, in total 11 softwares are common on all 3 system.

try to change your second hdd to basic instead of dynamic.

Yes I will try that too, but since its data disk & have good amount of data over 200Gb I need another disk so i can take backup & then delete the partitions & then convert it to basic.

It seems that this could be the source of the problem bcoz it started with this new disk when I bought last year & the vendor must have wrongly formatted it to dynamic.

This disk has been common to the systems which I have faced the problem.

ALL PROBLEMS SOLVED
the common thing between the computers was this hdd which was formatted as dynamic partition, so I followed the advice & took the backup & then converted it to basic.

Now all is working fine, no random assigning of letters.

Thanks sakumar79 for bringing this to my notice.

You are welcome...

Arun