Why do I have 2 copies

My computer was frozen and I was not able to load windows. I had no repair or any other commands available. I finally was able to load windows from dos but somehow I now have 2 copies : Originally my hard drive was setup has follows: C was my drive that had windows operating and D: was my recovery drive. I am using a HP Pavilion computer. Now my hard drive is setup has follows: C is my recovery drive and D: is my windows drive.

I have all my original information on C: drive! but I cannot use it. Now I have a new Win xp setup on D Is there a way maybe to be able to change the drive letters back so I can access my information. Is there a way to remove the lastest instalationl of win xp and go back to the original. At least I have access to my information where before I couldn't get the computer to go past the HP LOgo. Any help would be greatly appreciated since I have been trying to fix this computer for a week and I am using my laptop for the time being.

Thank you

This question was answered on November 29, 2004. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

---

While it is POSSIBLE to change a system drive letter, it is a very involved process XP or win2k do not just let you change a system drive letter In any case, I do not recommend doing so The reason is that when an app is installed, it writes files to its own folder and the winnt or winnt/system32 folder as well It will look for those files on D:\winnt; you have changed it to C:\winnt The app will give an error message.

I recommend you just do a clean install of xp deleting all partitions and creating one or more If you really want to change a system drive letter, here are the instructions.

Make a full system backup of the computer and system state.

Log on as an Administrator.

Start Regedt32.exe.

Go to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices

Click MountedDevices.

On the Security menu, click Permissions

Verify that Administrators have full control Change this back when you are finished with these steps.

Quit Regedt32.exe, and then start Regedit.exe

Locate the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices

Find the drive letter you want to change to (new) Look for "\DosDevices\C:".

Right-click \DosDevices\C:, and then click Rename.

Note You must use Regedit instead of Regedt32 to rename this registry key.

Rename it to an unused drive letter "\DosDevices\Z:".

This frees up drive letter C.

Find the drive letter you want changed Look for "\DosDevices\D:".

Right-click \DosDevices\D:, and then click Rename.

Rename it to the appropriate (new) drive letter "\DosDevices\C:".

Click the value for \DosDevices\Z:, click Rename, and then name it back to "\DosDevices\D:".

Quit Regedit, and then start Regedt32.

Change the permissions back to the previous setting for Administrators (this should probably be Read Only).

Restart the computer.

As you can see it is an involved process.

About the author

Posted by Michael of Katharine Gibbs School - New York on November 29, 2004

Need Help with this Issue?

We help people with technology! It's what we do.
Contact or Schedule an Appointment with a location for help!