Vista - Drive Letters

XP Pro on primary disk drive. Vista on secondary drive, fresh format. RC2
Ultimate.

Whenever I boot into XP, my primary drive (XP Pro drive) has the drive
letter C and my Vista drive is F. When I boot in Vista, the Vista drive
letter becomes C and the XP Drive becomes D. Previously I was able to
maintain the same drive letters, but now it just seems to want to assign
them however it sees fit. Any way to have static drive letters, regardless
of which is the booted OS?

Thanks

With your setup, you need to install Vista from the XP desktop (you can
still do a clean install) That keeps the XP lettering.

"James" <minorkeys@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:%23pj0AwlEHHA.4740@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> XP Pro on primary disk drive. Vista on secondary drive, fresh format.
> RC2 Ultimate.
>
> Whenever I boot into XP, my primary drive (XP Pro drive) has the drive
> letter C and my Vista drive is F. When I boot in Vista, the Vista drive
> letter becomes C and the XP Drive becomes D. Previously I was able to
> maintain the same drive letters, but now it just seems to want to assign
> them however it sees fit. Any way to have static drive letters,
> regardless of which is the booted OS?
>
> Thanks
>

I dont think this can be done, as Vista takes the C drive even if it has been
installed on other drive. thi is normal for Vista. Remember not to try to
change the drive letter while in Vista , else you may not be able to boot
into XP. This is normal for Vista. ANd again when you boot int XP, it'll be
shown in C drive.
SO its better to give Vol. label for better identification.

"James" wrote:

> XP Pro on primary disk drive. Vista on secondary drive, fresh format. RC2
> Ultimate.
>
> Whenever I boot into XP, my primary drive (XP Pro drive) has the drive
> letter C and my Vista drive is F. When I boot in Vista, the Vista drive
> letter becomes C and the XP Drive becomes D. Previously I was able to
> maintain the same drive letters, but now it just seems to want to assign
> them however it sees fit. Any way to have static drive letters, regardless
> of which is the booted OS?
>
> Thanks
>
>
>

If it is Vista x86 then you can install from the XP x86 desktop and rectify.
If you are running XP x86 and installing Vista x64 then you cannot. You
might consider just leaving the system as is. This is expected behavior
when booting the computer with the dvd and may not be worth changing.

"James" <minorkeys@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:%23pj0AwlEHHA.4740@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> XP Pro on primary disk drive. Vista on secondary drive, fresh format.
> RC2 Ultimate.
>
> Whenever I boot into XP, my primary drive (XP Pro drive) has the drive
> letter C and my Vista drive is F. When I boot in Vista, the Vista drive
> letter becomes C and the XP Drive becomes D. Previously I was able to
> maintain the same drive letters, but now it just seems to want to assign
> them however it sees fit. Any way to have static drive letters,
> regardless of which is the booted OS?
>
> Thanks
>

Actually this in normal for earlier Windows as well. It all depends on
whether you start the installation from the desktop or by booting the system
with the shiny media.

"vasu" <vasu@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:1337A219-1D9E-4C5B-9C0A-8E901C708AA2@microsoft.com...
>I dont think this can be done, as Vista takes the C drive even if it has
>been
> installed on other drive. thi is normal for Vista. Remember not to try to
> change the drive letter while in Vista , else you may not be able to boot
> into XP. This is normal for Vista. ANd again when you boot int XP, it'll
> be
> shown in C drive.
> SO its better to give Vol. label for better identification.
>
> "James" wrote:
>
>> XP Pro on primary disk drive. Vista on secondary drive, fresh format.
>> RC2
>> Ultimate.
>>
>> Whenever I boot into XP, my primary drive (XP Pro drive) has the drive
>> letter C and my Vista drive is F. When I boot in Vista, the Vista drive
>> letter becomes C and the XP Drive becomes D. Previously I was able to
>> maintain the same drive letters, but now it just seems to want to assign
>> them however it sees fit. Any way to have static drive letters,
>> regardless
>> of which is the booted OS?
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>>
>>

But is this possible with a single drive and partitions?

Here you meant running setup within XP and selecting secondary drive for
Vista installation?
But Vista will take over the bootloader here also.
Have you tried this?

"John Barnes" wrote:

> With your setup, you need to install Vista from the XP desktop (you can
> still do a clean install) That keeps the XP lettering.
>

Yeah, I booted off of the DVD because I previously had Linux installed on
that drive and wanted to use the DVD to partition/format that drive and wipe
it clean before I proceeded. I don't own an app like partition magic or
whatever that could determine the physical drive was even there while XP was
loaded, so I chose the path of least resistance and booted off of the DVD.

Thanks though.

"Colin Barnhorst" <colinbarharst(remove)@msn.com> wrote in message
news:Ou8n2%23lEHHA.1304@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> If it is Vista x86 then you can install from the XP x86 desktop and
> rectify. If you are running XP x86 and installing Vista x64 then you
> cannot. You might consider just leaving the system as is. This is
> expected behavior when booting the computer with the dvd and may not be
> worth changing.
>
> "James" <minorkeys@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:%23pj0AwlEHHA.4740@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>> XP Pro on primary disk drive. Vista on secondary drive, fresh format.
>> RC2 Ultimate.
>>
>> Whenever I boot into XP, my primary drive (XP Pro drive) has the drive
>> letter C and my Vista drive is F. When I boot in Vista, the Vista drive
>> letter becomes C and the XP Drive becomes D. Previously I was able to
>> maintain the same drive letters, but now it just seems to want to assign
>> them however it sees fit. Any way to have static drive letters,
>> regardless of which is the booted OS?
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>
>

Interesting. I always had earlier versions follow the Windows 2000 schema
when installed from the disk. Never installed from a desktop, personally.
Made for interesting contortions to get the drive letter desired.

"Colin Barnhorst" <colinbarharst(remove)@msn.com> wrote in message
news:e41y4%23lEHHA.1304@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> Actually this in normal for earlier Windows as well. It all depends on
> whether you start the installation from the desktop or by booting the
> system with the shiny media.
>
> "vasu" <vasu@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:1337A219-1D9E-4C5B-9C0A-8E901C708AA2@microsoft.com...
>>I dont think this can be done, as Vista takes the C drive even if it has
>>been
>> installed on other drive. thi is normal for Vista. Remember not to try
>> to
>> change the drive letter while in Vista , else you may not be able to boot
>> into XP. This is normal for Vista. ANd again when you boot int XP, it'll
>> be
>> shown in C drive.
>> SO its better to give Vol. label for better identification.
>>
>> "James" wrote:
>>
>>> XP Pro on primary disk drive. Vista on secondary drive, fresh format.
>>> RC2
>>> Ultimate.
>>>
>>> Whenever I boot into XP, my primary drive (XP Pro drive) has the drive
>>> letter C and my Vista drive is F. When I boot in Vista, the Vista drive
>>> letter becomes C and the XP Drive becomes D. Previously I was able to
>>> maintain the same drive letters, but now it just seems to want to assign
>>> them however it sees fit. Any way to have static drive letters,
>>> regardless
>>> of which is the booted OS?
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>>
>>>
>>>
>
>

Name your Vista drive/partition like I have .
I named it BV(Boot Vista).
That way I know what is what from where.


"James" <minorkeys@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:%23pj0AwlEHHA.4740@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> XP Pro on primary disk drive. Vista on secondary drive, fresh format.
> RC2 Ultimate.
>
> Whenever I boot into XP, my primary drive (XP Pro drive) has the drive
> letter C and my Vista drive is F. When I boot in Vista, the Vista drive
> letter becomes C and the XP Drive becomes D. Previously I was able to
> maintain the same drive letters, but now it just seems to want to assign
> them however it sees fit. Any way to have static drive letters,
> regardless of which is the booted OS?
>
> Thanks
>
>

Yes, it is possible. That is how my machine is setup.

I installed each Vista iteration since RC1 on a partition of my one and only
hard drive. I installed Vista while booted into XP on my C: drive. XP runs
on C: and Vista runs on K:.

--
Leo
If at first you do succeed, try not to look astonished.






"vasu" <vasu@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:C5116E0D-27A4-466E-BFA6-28D747135E23@microsoft.com...
> But is this possible with a single drive and partitions?
>
> Here you meant running setup within XP and selecting secondary drive for
> Vista installation?
> But Vista will take over the bootloader here also.
> Have you tried this?
>
> "John Barnes" wrote:
>
>> With your setup, you need to install Vista from the XP desktop (you can
>> still do a clean install) That keeps the XP lettering.
>>
>