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Feb 18, 2020 · Rename all drives with a drive letter from the Command Prompt or PowerShell; How to rename drives from PowerShell using their existing names; How to rename an external drive using an Autorun.inf file; Which method do you prefer for renaming drives in Windows 10?
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Open Disk Management from CMD. The Disk Management window is...
- Computer Management
NOTE: This guide works the same in Windows 10, Windows 7 and...
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For a more detailed explanation of the whole process, you...
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- What Changing a Drive Letter Does
- How to Change a Drive Letter
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Windows assigns drive letters alphabetically --- starting with C --- when they're initialized. If you want to change a drive letter, you should do it before you install anything on the drive. Changing a drive letter after programs are installed could break them since there will be references to an installation location that is no longer there.
Windows has gotten pretty smart about updating shortcuts so that programs work after changing a drive letter. Most of your applications' shortcuts will probably be automatically corrected. Unfortunately, Windows isn't as good about updating file associations. You'll have to manually set the default apps associated with files to fix file associations if they were broken by changing the drive letter.
Changing a drive letter is pretty simple. Click the Start button, type "Disk Management" in the search bar, and then hit Enter.
You could also hit Windows+X or right-click the Start button, and then click "Disk Management."
Identify the drive you'd like to change in the Disk Management Window. In this example, we'll change the letter of the D:\ drive to J:\. You can right-click the drive on the text list, or on the menu below. Either works.
Select "Change Drive Letter and Paths" in the right-click menu that appears.
In the window that pops up, click "Change."
Select whatever letter you want from the drop-down menu. Then click "Ok."
D
If you're lucky, the only thing that is broken is the shortcut. Fix a shortcut by right-clicking the shortcut on your desktop, and then click Properties. You need to change the target of the shortcut to the new drive letter. For example, if GIMP was previously installed at "
Reinstall the Program
Reinstalling the program will generate new entries in the registry, so everything on the computer will know where to look for the program. Some installers won't like reinstalling directly over existing files, so you may need to rename or delete the old installation first.
Change the Drive Letter Back
If you changed the drive letter of a drive with a lot of programs installed, it might be easier to change the drive letter back. Changing the drive letter back should automatically fix any programs and file associations that were broken.
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Whether it’s to keep things organized or personal preference, you can rename hard drive and change hard drive letters. Here in this post, we will show you how to do it in Windows 10.
Jun 14, 2024 · Learn how to easily rename your drive in Windows 11 with our simple, step-by-step guide. Follow these instructions to customize your drive labels effortlessly!
- Open This PC in File Explorer.
- Select a drive that you want to rename, and do step 3 or step 4 below for you want to rename the drive.
- Click/tap on the Computer tab, click/tap on Rename in the ribbon, and go to step 5 below.
- Right click or press and hold on the drive you want to rename, click/tap on Rename, and go to step 5 below.
Mar 12, 2022 · Steps on how to rename or label a hard drive or other disk drive in Windows and from the command line.
Aug 27, 2024 · Custom names can help distinguish between different drives, especially if you have multiple external hard drives connected. Keep drive names short and descriptive to avoid confusion. You can always change the name back if you decide you don’t like the new one. Renaming does not affect the data stored on the drive.