Fixed Drive Letters for Removable Drives

[anjan_oleti]

Is there a way to assign a Fixed Drive Letter for a removable drive (usb or hard drive), irrespective of the computer with which it is used?

I would like to have some toolbars, macros, etc. to use Fixed Paths, even when used in other computers..

Cheers!

[Lashiec]

I don't think so, mostly to avoid hardware conflicts. If you assign "F:" to your USB drive, it would work fine on your computer, for example, but could not do the same in other computers. If I'm correct, drive letters are assigned on boot up, and they follow a criteria for being assigned, like first SATA, then IDE and finally external ones.

But I'll love to be proved wrong, better for you

[anjan_oleti]

I would like to assign letters from Z,Y,X... backwards to my removable drives to eliminate/minimize the possibility of conflict 

[Darwin]

Well, you can do that via the USB drive letter manager, but it wouldn't follow you from computer to computer - only work on the computer it is installed and configured on...

[f0dder]

Yeah, there really isn't any way to assign them automatically on other computers. Software designed to run on portable devices (and heck, just about any other software as well) shouldn't use hardcoded paths.

[PhilB66]

Bill Castner discussed it in the AUMHA Forums: The Care and Feeding of USB Storage Devices in XP.

[edbro]

Yeah, there really isn't any way to assign them automatically on other computers.

There is if you use Powerpro. I use the following startup script:

local DrvLtr = select(pprofolder, 3) ; selects the drive letter that Powepro is running from
local string = "T: " ++ DrvLtr ; build string to send to the subst command line
local ed = DrvLtr ++ ?"powerpro\substt.exe" ; renamed subst.exe to fool restrictions on work computer
do(ed, string) ; Assigns USB drive to T:

If you had any other utility running that reported back the drive letter you could use subst.exe from a batch file.

[anjan_oleti]

There is if you use Powerpro. I use the following startup script:

local DrvLtr = select(pprofolder, 3) ; selects the drive letter that Powepro is running from
local string = "T: " ++ DrvLtr ; build string to send to the subst command line
local ed = DrvLtr ++ ?"powerpro\substt.exe" ; renamed subst.exe to fool restrictions on work computer
do(ed, string) ; Assigns USB drive to T:

If you had any other utility running that reported back the drive letter you could use subst.exe from a batch file.

Oh! I do use PowerPro... yet, cannot figure out how to use this startup script 
Could you explain it in detail please?

And, is PowerPro portable? Would be great, if it is!

[edbro]

Powerpro is mostly portable as is. Just copy it over to your usb drive. You will not be able to have shell integration or tray support but most other functions work fine.

Copy my script above into a text file and name it "startup.powerpro". Then from the Scheduler tab of Powerpro Config, have it run that script at startup. My script points to a copy of subst.exe that I renamed to substt.exe because I'm not allowed to run subst.exe on my work computer. Renaming the file fools the restrictions. You probably can just point to the local copy that is already installed in all Windows machines.

[Ehtyar]

Very simple way to handle this: G:\myfavapp\app.exe = \myfavapp\app.exe. Problem solved

Ehtyar.

[anjan_oleti]

Thanks a lot, edbro!

[tomos]

Very simple way to handle this: G:\myfavapp\app.exe = \myfavapp\app.exe. Problem solved

????? (or was it a joke that went over my head ?? )

[Ehtyar]

Just remove the drive spec, windows will interpret it as "from the root of the drive this program is running off". Why didn't you just try it?

Ehtyar.

[suleika]

Bill Castner discussed it in the AUMHA Forums: The Care and Feeding of USB Storage Devices in XP.

Thank you for this reference, PhilB66.  I have now set up my various usb sticks and drives to my liking, mounted in NTFS folders. 

[tomos]

Just remove the drive spec, windows will interpret it as "from the root of the drive this program is running off". Why didn't you just try it?

hi Ehtyar,
I wasnt trying to be smart (well maybe I was but I didnt mean to offend) -
in fact the opposite is the root problem (being completely ignorant of how to proceed)

I do want to make my usb stick a fixed drive
But while I have no idea what to do iwith "G:\myfavapp\app.exe = \myfavapp\app.exe" -
is it intended for PowerPro as well? I do have PP running... do I make a script with it as edbro suggested?
it probably doesnt suit me cause I use the USB stick for backup -
I dont think I have any programmes on it anymore

[On the other hand if it's as easy as you say I could put a programme on it simply to implement this]

[anjan_oleti]

Very simple way to handle this: G:\myfavapp\app.exe = \myfavapp\app.exe. Problem solved

Ehtyar.

It doesn't work!
I thought it would work with Windows Explorer... but no luck, in my comp atleast
But when command line is used for programs, it definitely does not work!

[Ehtyar]

You're right, it doesn't work in explorer. I don't use explorer to launch my portable apps so i never noticed.
I don't use powerpro either, so i cannot speak to your specific problem, but most programs will accept a path without the drive spec and will act as though it is relative the the root of the current drive.

Hope it helps out in the long run, Ehtyar.

[anjan_oleti]

Oh! Okay, now I understand what exactly you meant.. sure, it helps! Thanks!

[Target]

Bill Castner discussed it in the AUMHA Forums: The Care and Feeding of USB Storage Devices in XP.

great solution, however if you have multiple USB devices in use you don't get any indication of which is which when you try to remove a device, ie I use both a key and and MP3 player.  Using the NTFS junction method makes these devices appear identical when I want to remove a device (unless I go the long way round and right click)...

anyone got any suggestions???

Target

[Ehtyar]

I wrote myself a tray app a while back that when right clicked displays a list a of all drives on the system with their drive spec and name. It was originally so i could open drives fast on systems where i had to use the start menu. I'm afraid that's the only way I've ever managed what you're talking about.

Ehtyar.

[Target]

not sure what you're talking about here - opening/accessing the drives isn't a problem, it's shutting them down I'm having problems with...

the screen shot below shows 2 devices, one is my MP3 player (listed as F) and the other a USB key (just listed as a device)

[attach]

[Ehtyar]

My reply was ambiguous. To omit the unnecessary details, i have an application that shows me the names of all my drives against the drive letters. Basically, looking at this list allows me to match the name of the drive i want to remove with the letter, then i can use the windows safely remove hardware wizard.

[attach]

[Target]

thanks for clarifying this, unfortunately it doesn't help...

Once you've assigned your usb devices to NTFS junctions, they all appear identical in the remove usb storage device popup, ie for each device assigned a junction, you will see the line 'safely remove usb mass storage device'.  There is no reference to device names or drive letters (cos there aren't any!!).

If you right click on the tray icon and select safely remove hardware, you get a more detailed dialog box, with the option to drill down (in a tree view) on each device.  Using this method you can id which devices are which but at the expense of convenience (and when it's all said and done, that's what these things are supposed to be about) 

Target

[Ehtyar]

Oh dear I'm sorry i obviously didn't read your original post well enough. In that case I'm afraid i have no other suggestions. Sorry for wasting your time  .

Ehtyar.

[Target]

not wasted, so no apology necessary

any and all discussions welcome...

Target