As an IT administrator, it can be difficult to determine why you cannot change the drive letter of a previously used drive. This problem can be caused by a variety of underlying issues, but can usually be resolved with a few simple steps.
The first thing you should do is to check the drive letter of the drive you are trying to change. If the drive letter is already in use, you will need to assign a different drive letter to the drive. To do this, right-click on the drive in the Windows Explorer window and select “Change Drive Letter and Paths…”. From here, you can assign a new drive letter to the drive.
If the drive letter is not already in use, you may need to check the registry for any entries that reference the old drive letter. To do this, open the Registry Editor (type regedit in the Start menu search box), and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SYSTEM\\MountedDevices
Look for any entries that reference the old drive letter, and delete them. After deleting the entries, you should be able to assign a new drive letter to the drive.
If the registry entries are not the problem, you may need to check the disk management console. To open the disk management console, right-click on the “Computer” icon and select “Manage”. In the left pane, select “Disk Management”. Here, you can see all of the drives and their associated drive letters. Look for any drives that have the same drive letter as the one you are trying to assign, and delete them. Once they are deleted, you should be able to assign the new drive letter.
If the drive letter is still not changing, it is possible that the drive has been assigned a “Persistent” drive letter. To check for this, open a command prompt window (type cmd in the Start menu search box), and type the following command:
diskpart
list volume
This will list all of the volumes on the system and their associated drive letters. Look for any volumes with a “Persistent” flag, and delete them. Once they are deleted, you should be able to assign a new drive letter.
In summary, if you are unable to change the drive letter of a previously used drive, the first step should be to check the drive letter of the drive. If the drive letter is already in use, assign a new drive letter to the drive. If the drive letter is not in use, check the registry for any entries that reference the old drive letter, and delete them. Additionally, check the disk management console for any drives that have the same drive letter, and delete them. Finally, check for any “Persistent” drive letters, and delete them. Following these steps should allow you to assign a new drive letter to the drive.
