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    External drive letters changing

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    diskpart external storage windows server 2016
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    • CCWTechC
      CCWTech
      last edited by

      I have a server with only 2 USB ports. OS is Windows Server 2016 STD.

      Since I need more than that to plug in external usb drives I purchased a USB powered hub.

      It's been working fine for a long time, however just recently after a reboot the drive letters are changing from what they are manually assigned in Disk Management and even the name of the volume is changing.

      I have read about clearing the drive attributes in diskpart and also the possibility of the server now detecting the USB hub as a new device each time.

      Has anyone worked on this issue before and what did you do to resolve it?

      dave247D SanWINS 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • JaredBuschJ
        JaredBusch
        last edited by

        I would assume the USB drivers were updated and caused windows to think they were "new" or something.

        CCWTechC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
        • CCWTechC
          CCWTech @JaredBusch
          last edited by

          @JaredBusch said in External drive letters changing:

          I would assume the USB drivers were updated and caused windows to think they were "new" or something.

          Yes, I agree. But even after I 'correct' it, they are still changing.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • Reid CooperR
            Reid Cooper
            last edited by

            I presume that the drive letters are changing because the volume name is changing. The system sees a new drive, so you get a new letter.

            CCWTechC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • dave247D
              dave247 @CCWTech
              last edited by

              @CCWTech said in External drive letters changing:

              I have a server with only 2 USB ports. OS is Windows Server 2016 STD.

              Since I need more than that to plug in external usb drives I purchased a USB powered hub.

              It's been working fine for a long time, however just recently after a reboot the drive letters are changing from what they are manually assigned in Disk Management and even the name of the volume is changing.

              I have read about clearing the drive attributes in diskpart and also the possibility of the server now detecting the USB hub as a new device each time.

              Has anyone worked on this issue before and what did you do to resolve it?

              Are you properly ejecting the USB drives before taking them out? I think sometimes they don't fully clear and then you have a letter conflict. I'm not 100% sure on this though..

              CCWTechC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
              • CCWTechC
                CCWTech @Reid Cooper
                last edited by

                @Reid-Cooper said in External drive letters changing:

                I presume that the drive letters are changing because the volume name is changing. The system sees a new drive, so you get a new letter.

                Not sure why the volume name changes though.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • CCWTechC
                  CCWTech @dave247
                  last edited by

                  @dave247 said in External drive letters changing:

                  @CCWTech said in External drive letters changing:

                  I have a server with only 2 USB ports. OS is Windows Server 2016 STD.

                  Since I need more than that to plug in external usb drives I purchased a USB powered hub.

                  It's been working fine for a long time, however just recently after a reboot the drive letters are changing from what they are manually assigned in Disk Management and even the name of the volume is changing.

                  I have read about clearing the drive attributes in diskpart and also the possibility of the server now detecting the USB hub as a new device each time.

                  Has anyone worked on this issue before and what did you do to resolve it?

                  Are you properly ejecting the USB drives before taking them out? I think sometimes they don't fully clear and then you have a letter conflict. I'm not 100% sure on this though..

                  Not removing them at all. Just after a reboot.

                  Reid CooperR 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • Reid CooperR
                    Reid Cooper @CCWTech
                    last edited by

                    @CCWTech said in External drive letters changing:

                    @dave247 said in External drive letters changing:

                    @CCWTech said in External drive letters changing:

                    I have a server with only 2 USB ports. OS is Windows Server 2016 STD.

                    Since I need more than that to plug in external usb drives I purchased a USB powered hub.

                    It's been working fine for a long time, however just recently after a reboot the drive letters are changing from what they are manually assigned in Disk Management and even the name of the volume is changing.

                    I have read about clearing the drive attributes in diskpart and also the possibility of the server now detecting the USB hub as a new device each time.

                    Has anyone worked on this issue before and what did you do to resolve it?

                    Are you properly ejecting the USB drives before taking them out? I think sometimes they don't fully clear and then you have a letter conflict. I'm not 100% sure on this though..

                    Not removing them at all. Just after a reboot.

                    Oh, that is much worse.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                    • Reid CooperR
                      Reid Cooper
                      last edited by

                      Rower85 said to do this...

                      Open Run and type "Diskpart"
                      type "LIST VOLUME"
                      note witch volume number that you want to autoassign on boot

                      Create a textfile on C:\ named: diskpart.txt
                      Put this in the textfile:
                      select volume "drive number"
                      assign letter="drive letter to assign"
                      (in the " " brackets, input your stuff, also you do not need the "")

                      Open Run and type notepad
                      Put this in:
                      diskpart /s c:/diskpart.txt
                      click File > Save As...
                      locate C:\ and change File Name to "diskpart.bat" then change Save as type: to All Files and press Save

                      Now go to Task Scheduler in the Admin section on the Control panel.
                      Make a new folder in the "Windows" sub folder named "Diskpart"
                      rightclick the "Diskpart" folder
                      click "Create Basic Task..."
                      name it to "Diskpart" and click "Next >"
                      select "When the computer starts" click "Next >"
                      select "Start a program" click "Next >"
                      click "Browse..."
                      select the "Diskpart.bat" file you saved on C:, click "Next >"
                      select "Open the Properties dialog for this task when I click Finish" click "Finish"
                      Properties should come up, now select "Run with highest privileges"
                      click "OK"

                      CCWTechC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                      • CCWTechC
                        CCWTech @Reid Cooper
                        last edited by

                        @Reid-Cooper said in External drive letters changing:

                        Rower85 said to do this...

                        Open Run and type "Diskpart"
                        type "LIST VOLUME"
                        note witch volume number that you want to autoassign on boot

                        Create a textfile on C:\ named: diskpart.txt
                        Put this in the textfile:
                        select volume "drive number"
                        assign letter="drive letter to assign"
                        (in the " " brackets, input your stuff, also you do not need the "")

                        Open Run and type notepad
                        Put this in:
                        diskpart /s c:/diskpart.txt
                        click File > Save As...
                        locate C:\ and change File Name to "diskpart.bat" then change Save as type: to All Files and press Save

                        Now go to Task Scheduler in the Admin section on the Control panel.
                        Make a new folder in the "Windows" sub folder named "Diskpart"
                        rightclick the "Diskpart" folder
                        click "Create Basic Task..."
                        name it to "Diskpart" and click "Next >"
                        select "When the computer starts" click "Next >"
                        select "Start a program" click "Next >"
                        click "Browse..."
                        select the "Diskpart.bat" file you saved on C:, click "Next >"
                        select "Open the Properties dialog for this task when I click Finish" click "Finish"
                        Properties should come up, now select "Run with highest privileges"
                        click "OK"

                        Problem is that the volume names are changing as well.

                        Reid CooperR 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • Reid CooperR
                          Reid Cooper @CCWTech
                          last edited by

                          @CCWTech Maybe it is time for eSATA 🙂

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                          • DustinB3403D
                            DustinB3403
                            last edited by

                            I dealt with this while I was still carrying disks home weekly for our backup processes.

                            The issue for us was just a simple change drive letter (for both drives) since they automatically mounted and we're assigned a litter that didn't work with our backup solution.

                            While a manual process, it worked.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                            • SanWINS
                              SanWIN @CCWTech
                              last edited by

                              @CCWTech As an alternative, you can try this tool: https://www.uwe-sieber.de/usbdlm_e.html

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
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