Windows NT Tries to Duplicate MS-DOS Drive Letter Scheme (101703)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.1
  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.1
  • Microsoft Windows NT Advanced Server 3.1
This article was previously published under Q101703

SUMMARY

Windows NT attempts to assign drive letters to partitions in the same manner that MS-DOS does. However, there are cases in which drive letter assignments are not the same.

MORE INFORMATION

Consider the following example in which a system has two hard disks, each of which has two partitions:

Windows NT assigns drive letters as follows: 

      --------------------
      | C: FAT | E: NTFS |
      --------------------

      --------------------
      | D: FAT | F: FAT  |
      --------------------

However, MS-DOS assigns drive letters as follows: 

      --------------------
      | C: FAT | Unknown |
      --------------------

      --------------------
      | D: FAT | E: FAT  |
      --------------------
Because MS-DOS does not recognize the NTFS partition, it marks the partition as "unknown" and does not assign it a drive letter.

NOTE: In Disk Administrator, you can customize the drive letter assignments by choosing Drive Letter from the Partition menu.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:11/20/2003
Keywords:kbother KB101703
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