Why does Windows assign my USB drive to an already assigned network drive?

[superboyac]

At work, whenever I put in a USB stick, the computer automatically assigns the USB the same letter as another networked drive.  Why does it do this?  Why doesn't it find another, unused letter?  I always have to disconnect the network drive to be able to see the USB.  And then, even after disconnecting, it reconnects after startup (which may not necessarily be a problem, just a way the network is setup).  How can I get the USB to be assigned to a different letter?

[superboyac]

Found this.

[MilesAhead]

I try to use a drive letter that's away from everything else for network shares.  That way if a few removable media come and go, I don't get the conflict.

Also I found a tutorial how to create a bootable USB and one thing interesting was using the DiskPart assign command to map a USB to another drive letter.  Can come in handy if you are using some old diskette utilities that only know about A:

It may avoid having to install one of those "virtual floppy" drivers used to get a boot image onto "A:" before copying to other media.

For some reason I can't seem to find that tutorial now.  It was good stuff though.

edit: here's the MS ref for DiskPart
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/300415

[tsaint]

I was also driven crazy by that problem, until I began using USB Drive Letter Manager, which runs as a service. From http://www.uwe-sieber.de/usbdlm_e.html.
Each of my USB drives and external hard drives has a specific letter I chose so as not to conflict with the network, nor each other (set in an ini file) which my computer will always use.

[TucknDar]

I was also driven crazy by that problem, until I began using USB Drive Letter Manager, which runs as a service. From http://www.uwe-sieber.de/usbdlm_e.html.
Each of my USB drives and external hard drives has a specific letter I chose so as not to conflict with the network, nor each other (set in an ini file) which my computer will always use.

Incredible utility! I use it for all my USB devices so I know that my iPod will get assigned to 'i' for instance and that the memory card from my camera also gets the same letter each time.

[tsaint]

Sorry, Superboyac, I didn't read to the bottom of your linked article, which referred to USBDLM

[MerleOne]

You can manage this with USBSafelyRemove, they have a beta version at http://safelyremove.com/version-4-1.htm and I think they proposed a 1y free license to beta-testers (maybe non longer valid now).  Or the regular version.

[superboyac]

You can manage this with USBSafelyRemove, they have a beta version at http://safelyremove.com/version-4-1.htm and I think they proposed a 1y free license from beta-testers (maybe non longer valid now).  Or the regular version.

I've liked this program and author for a while now.  I should probably get it.  i just never really used USB much before.

[scrolllock]

On first view USB Safely Remove might be easier to use than USBDLM but it takes by far more memory.

@superboyac: All you need is XP SP3. It fixes the problem at least for new drives.

[MerleOne]

On first view USB Safely Remove might be easier to use than USBDLM but it takes by far more memory.

@superboyac: All you need is XP SP3. It fixes the problem at least for new drives.

Just 12MB on my XP SP2 system !

[f0dder]

On first view USB Safely Remove might be easier to use than USBDLM but it takes by far more memory.

@superboyac: All you need is XP SP3. It fixes the problem at least for new drives.

What are the stats? (In "private bytes", not silly default taskmgr stats).

[scrolllock]

On a virtual machine without any hotplug drives (Private Bytes shown by ProcessExplorer)

The USBDLM service takes  2.4 MB.
USB Safely Remove V4.0 takes 1 MB for its service and 8 MB for the colorful user app.

I think when I had tested USB Safely Remove some time ago on a real XP with some USB drives it was much more.
Maybe V4.0 is more optimized than V3.x was.

Still factor 3.5 for USBDLM.

[MerleOne]

...


Still factor 3.5 for USBDLM.

Sorry, I quite don't follow.  What is your comparison reference ?  Also, in that case, I feel it's the absolute amount that matters, not the ratio.  It's just a few megabytes, IMHO.

[scrolllock]

2.4 MB against 9 MB. If I can choose then I select the slim one.

[lanux128]

USBDLM is very useful when it comes to the management of removable drives and it's quite popular here, just check out these threads..

• how to give each USB stick a specific drive letter?
• Fixed Drive Letters for Removable Drives
• IDEA: automatic card reader drive letter assignment/removal

[superboyac]

USBDLM is very useful when it comes to the management of removable drives and it's quite popular here, just check out these threads..

• how to give each USB stick a specific drive letter?
• Fixed Drive Letters for Removable Drives
• IDEA: automatic card reader drive letter assignment/removal

Very cool.  Thanks.