Cannot Change System Volume Drive Letter After Setup (223769)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
This article was previously published under Q223769

SUMMARY

You cannot change the drive letter of the system volume after Windows 2000 Setup is finished. The drive letter of the hard disk on which Windows is installed is hard-coded in the registry.

MORE INFORMATION

In Windows 2000, you can reassign the drive letters associated with drives after Setup runs, but not for the system volume.

If you attempt to use the Disk Management console to change the drive letters of the SYSTEM or BOOT volume, you receive the following error message:
Cannot Modify the Drive Letter of your system or boot volume.
NOTE: The boot volume is where the \Winnt folder is located, the system volume is where the boot files (boot.ini, ntdetect.com, etc.) are located.

When you are installing Windows 2000 using Winnt32.exe, you can specify the folder in which Windows should be installed by clicking Advanced Options. This option is available only when you are performing a "clean" installation of Windows.

A "clean" installation of Windows 2000 means either installing Windows 2000 on a blank hard disk, or installing Windows 2000 in a folder other than the folder in which an existing version of Windows is installed.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:11/21/2003
Keywords:kbenv kbinfo kbsetup KB223769
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