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From: John John - MVP on 8 Mar 2010 13:43
Le wrote:
> Thx John John. I had already deleted the disk and reformatted it then
> restored from a backup. If this didn't accomplish all of what you indicated
> please elucidate and I may be able to try it.
>
> Gen & John John:
> A couple of observations - the drive is configured as Dynamic. Don't
> remember doing anything special to create it this way. It's a single
> partition on a Hitachi DeskStar. The reason I point out the latter is that
> it showed up in the USB devices as an unknown for a brief while. Curious.

On Dynamic Disks the partition information is held in the LDM database.
If you don't need dynamic disks revert the disk to a Basic Disk. In
the Disk Management console right click on the disk (the big button at
the very left) and select the option to revert the disk to a basic disk,
all information on the disk will be lost.

John
From: Bill Blanton on 8 Mar 2010 15:52
On 3/8/2010 13:38, John John - MVP wrote:

> The drive letters have really nothing to do with the hardware aspect of
> the controller and disk and all to do with the disk and partition
> signatures and the Mount Manager's database at
> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices. You can delete remove all the
> controllers and disks in the Device Manager or move the disks about from
> one controller to another but the Mount Manager will keep it's drive
> letter assignments as long as the disk signatures and partitions remain
> the same. Formatting your drive did not touch the disk signature, it
> should have removed the assigned letters but it seems that there is a
> glitch with the letters assigned to the disk and rewriting the disk
> signature or zeroing out the first sector (MBR) should take care of
> this. A wholesale purge of the Mount Manager's database will also do the
> trick but that is usually a "when all else fails" solution...

That's the problem. He did purge hklm\system\mounteddevices. When he
tried to change a drive letter afterward, to what it was originally, he
ended up with two letters for the one volume. Also, one volume was
apparently enumerated twice on its own. See below.


>>>>> Thx Bill - did that and G: & Z: are still present based on "fsutil
>>>>> fsinfo drives". My Y: drive went away and is presented as just H:.
>>>>> I used Disk Manager to change the ID of the H: partition to Y: and
>>>>> I now have H: & Y: for it.
>>>> Further - I looked at the MountedDevices enty for H: and it look
>>>> identical to Y: - deleted it, rebooted, and H: went away. Z:
>>>> however, has a wildly different key from G:'s. Would it be
>>>> reasonable to replace Z:'s with G:'s then reboot?
>>> Things that I would try:
>>>
>>> 1- If you have information or partitions that you want to keep on the
>>> disk you can rewrite the disk signature and force Windows to
>>> reenumerate the disk and its partitions. To rewrite the signature
>>> boot the computer with a Windows 98 Startup floppy and issue the
>>> FDISK /MBR command against the disk, this will rewrite the disk
>>> signature but it will leave partitions intact.
>>>
>>> 2- If you can afford to lose all the information on the disk then you
>>> can force a reinitialization of the disk in several manners, two of
>>> them:
>>>
>>> A- Download a disk diagnostic utility from the disk manufacturer's
>>> site and have it zero out the first few sectors on the drive, no need
>>> to zero out the whole disk if the utility offers an option to only
>>> rewrite the first sectors but other than take more time it won't hurt
>>> to rewrite the whole disk.
>>>
>>> B- Use the Windows built-in Diskpart command line tool and use the
>>> Clean parameter to clear the disk. Be careful with Diskpart, slippy
>>> fingers or a lapse of attention can result in data loss!
>>>
>>> John
>>>
>>>
>>>>> "Bill Blanton" wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> There's probably minor corruption in this registry key:
>>>>>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Assuming you have somewhat of a basic setup, make a restore point
>>>>>> and delete that key and reboot. Windows will re-enumerate all
>>>>>> drive letters.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Note that if you have moved "system objects" such as the paging
>>>>>> file or My Documents, or if you have changed the default letter
>>>>>> for volumes (including adding or subtracting drives), you may have
>>>>>> to redo all or some of that.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Depending on your setup, there may be some risk.. Hence the
>>>>>> restore point. ;)
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On 3/7/2010 20:14, Le wrote:
>>>>>>> G: has never shown up in the Disk Manager but does show up in
>>>>>>> "fsutil fsinfo
>>>>>>> drives". So, no, I found no way to "remove" the drive. I did
>>>>>>> delete the
>>>>>>> device z: in the Disk Manger prior to reformatting.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Tried dismounting G: via fsutil but no joy.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "neil" wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Did you remove G and Z and then reset as Z again.?
>>>>>>>> Neil
>>>>>>>> "Le"<Le(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>>>>>>> news:BF3628FC-88EF-4C13-9629-72CF7A0E2E42(a)microsoft.com...
>>>>>>>>> I have a drive which has been Z: for eons and has recently had
>>>>>>>>> G: assigned
>>>>>>>>> as
>>>>>>>>> well. I reformatted the drive, added as Z: again and still G:
>>>>>>>>> is defined.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> I'm getting corruption on indices (even though indexing is
>>>>>>>>> turned off for
>>>>>>>>> the drive as Z:). Ping ponging between chkdsk /f for the two
>>>>>>>>> IDs settles
>>>>>>>>> down to no errors but then a reboot and it's back...
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> XP Pro, SP3, what else would help the experts?
>>>>>>>> .
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>> .
>>>>>>
>>> .
>>>
>

From: Bill Blanton on 8 Mar 2010 15:54
I just thought of this. You did reboot after deleting the key, correct?


On 3/7/2010 22:39, Le wrote:
> Thx Bill - did that and G:& Z: are still present based on "fsutil fsinfo
> drives". My Y: drive went away and is presented as just H:. I used Disk
> Manager to change the ID of the H: partition to Y: and I now have H:& Y: for
> it.
>
> "Bill Blanton" wrote:
>
>> There's probably minor corruption in this registry key:
>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices
>>
>> Assuming you have somewhat of a basic setup, make a restore point and
>> delete that key and reboot. Windows will re-enumerate all drive letters.
>>
>> Note that if you have moved "system objects" such as the paging file or
>> My Documents, or if you have changed the default letter for volumes
>> (including adding or subtracting drives), you may have to redo all or
>> some of that.
>>
>> Depending on your setup, there may be some risk.. Hence the restore
>> point. ;)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 3/7/2010 20:14, Le wrote:
>>> G: has never shown up in the Disk Manager but does show up in "fsutil fsinfo
>>> drives". So, no, I found no way to "remove" the drive. I did delete the
>>> device z: in the Disk Manger prior to reformatting.
>>>
>>> Tried dismounting G: via fsutil but no joy.
>>>
>>> "neil" wrote:
>>>
>>>> Did you remove G and Z and then reset as Z again.?
>>>> Neil
>>>> "Le"<Le(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>>> news:BF3628FC-88EF-4C13-9629-72CF7A0E2E42(a)microsoft.com...
>>>>> I have a drive which has been Z: for eons and has recently had G: assigned
>>>>> as
>>>>> well. I reformatted the drive, added as Z: again and still G: is defined.
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm getting corruption on indices (even though indexing is turned off for
>>>>> the drive as Z:). Ping ponging between chkdsk /f for the two IDs settles
>>>>> down to no errors but then a reboot and it's back...
>>>>>
>>>>> XP Pro, SP3, what else would help the experts?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> .
>>>>
>>
>> .
>>

From: John John - MVP on 8 Mar 2010 15:59
Bill Blanton wrote:
> On 3/8/2010 13:38, John John - MVP wrote:
>
>> The drive letters have really nothing to do with the hardware aspect of
>> the controller and disk and all to do with the disk and partition
>> signatures and the Mount Manager's database at
>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices. You can delete remove all the
>> controllers and disks in the Device Manager or move the disks about from
>> one controller to another but the Mount Manager will keep it's drive
>> letter assignments as long as the disk signatures and partitions remain
>> the same. Formatting your drive did not touch the disk signature, it
>> should have removed the assigned letters but it seems that there is a
>> glitch with the letters assigned to the disk and rewriting the disk
>> signature or zeroing out the first sector (MBR) should take care of
>> this. A wholesale purge of the Mount Manager's database will also do the
>> trick but that is usually a "when all else fails" solution...
>
> That's the problem. He did purge hklm\system\mounteddevices. When he
> tried to change a drive letter afterward, to what it was originally, he
> ended up with two letters for the one volume. Also, one volume was
> apparently enumerated twice on its own. See below.

He later says that he has a dynamic disk and that the dynamic disk was
created without his knowledge. He should reinitialize the disk.


>>>>>> Thx Bill - did that and G: & Z: are still present based on "fsutil
>>>>>> fsinfo drives". My Y: drive went away and is presented as just H:.
>>>>>> I used Disk Manager to change the ID of the H: partition to Y: and
>>>>>> I now have H: & Y: for it.
>>>>> Further - I looked at the MountedDevices enty for H: and it look
>>>>> identical to Y: - deleted it, rebooted, and H: went away. Z:
>>>>> however, has a wildly different key from G:'s. Would it be
>>>>> reasonable to replace Z:'s with G:'s then reboot?
>>>> Things that I would try:
>>>>
>>>> 1- If you have information or partitions that you want to keep on the
>>>> disk you can rewrite the disk signature and force Windows to
>>>> reenumerate the disk and its partitions. To rewrite the signature
>>>> boot the computer with a Windows 98 Startup floppy and issue the
>>>> FDISK /MBR command against the disk, this will rewrite the disk
>>>> signature but it will leave partitions intact.
>>>>
>>>> 2- If you can afford to lose all the information on the disk then you
>>>> can force a reinitialization of the disk in several manners, two of
>>>> them:
>>>>
>>>> A- Download a disk diagnostic utility from the disk manufacturer's
>>>> site and have it zero out the first few sectors on the drive, no need
>>>> to zero out the whole disk if the utility offers an option to only
>>>> rewrite the first sectors but other than take more time it won't hurt
>>>> to rewrite the whole disk.
>>>>
>>>> B- Use the Windows built-in Diskpart command line tool and use the
>>>> Clean parameter to clear the disk. Be careful with Diskpart, slippy
>>>> fingers or a lapse of attention can result in data loss!
>>>>
>>>> John
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>> "Bill Blanton" wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> There's probably minor corruption in this registry key:
>>>>>>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Assuming you have somewhat of a basic setup, make a restore point
>>>>>>> and delete that key and reboot. Windows will re-enumerate all
>>>>>>> drive letters.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Note that if you have moved "system objects" such as the paging
>>>>>>> file or My Documents, or if you have changed the default letter
>>>>>>> for volumes (including adding or subtracting drives), you may have
>>>>>>> to redo all or some of that.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Depending on your setup, there may be some risk.. Hence the
>>>>>>> restore point. ;)
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On 3/7/2010 20:14, Le wrote:
>>>>>>>> G: has never shown up in the Disk Manager but does show up in
>>>>>>>> "fsutil fsinfo
>>>>>>>> drives". So, no, I found no way to "remove" the drive. I did
>>>>>>>> delete the
>>>>>>>> device z: in the Disk Manger prior to reformatting.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Tried dismounting G: via fsutil but no joy.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> "neil" wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Did you remove G and Z and then reset as Z again.?
>>>>>>>>> Neil
>>>>>>>>> "Le"<Le(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>>>>>>>> news:BF3628FC-88EF-4C13-9629-72CF7A0E2E42(a)microsoft.com...
>>>>>>>>>> I have a drive which has been Z: for eons and has recently had
>>>>>>>>>> G: assigned
>>>>>>>>>> as
>>>>>>>>>> well. I reformatted the drive, added as Z: again and still G:
>>>>>>>>>> is defined.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> I'm getting corruption on indices (even though indexing is
>>>>>>>>>> turned off for
>>>>>>>>>> the drive as Z:). Ping ponging between chkdsk /f for the two
>>>>>>>>>> IDs settles
>>>>>>>>>> down to no errors but then a reboot and it's back...
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> XP Pro, SP3, what else would help the experts?
>>>>>>>>> .
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> .
>>>>>>>
>>>> .
>>>>
>>
>
From: Le on 9 Mar 2010 02:13
Yep.

"neil" wrote:

> Did you remove G and Z and then reset as Z again.?
> Neil
> "Le" <Le(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:BF3628FC-88EF-4C13-9629-72CF7A0E2E42(a)microsoft.com...
> >I have a drive which has been Z: for eons and has recently had G: assigned
> >as
> > well. I reformatted the drive, added as Z: again and still G: is defined.
> >
> > I'm getting corruption on indices (even though indexing is turned off for
> > the drive as Z:). Ping ponging between chkdsk /f for the two IDs settles
> > down to no errors but then a reboot and it's back...
> >
> > XP Pro, SP3, what else would help the experts?
>
>
> .
>
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