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XPS 8700, What causes the C drive (Drive0) to become (Drive 1) when adding HDD?
Hi,
I recently reinstalled W10 on the mSATA C_Drive. It correctly shows as Drive 0.
But when I add a second drive (HDD) the mSATA C_Drive now displays as Drive 1, and the secondary HDD drive has become Drive 0.
What causes this to happen please, and where do I look to correct (probably) my mistake?
Vic384
4 Operator
4 Operator
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3.2K Posts
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May 9th, 2018 11:00
Here are two articles that may help, but it appears that this is something that is difficult to change.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/937251/disk-drive-numbers-may-not-correspond-to-the-sata-channel-numbers-when
https://www.dell.com/community/Desktops-General/D-Drive-is-drive-0-C-drive-is-drive-1-How-to-change/td-p/5174704
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
8 Wizard
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17K Posts
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May 9th, 2018 11:00
we can't see your pics.
Drive-0 and Drive-1 usually correlate to SATA-channels and are normally irrelevant.
old_Bean
46 Posts
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May 9th, 2018 12:00
Thank you Tesla1856,
I repost the picture here, but it shows on my PC, let me know if it still does not show. I know it does not show if not logged in. Maybe some limitations of size or similar?
old_Bean
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May 9th, 2018 13:00
Thank you Vic384,
That's very helpful in getting my head around what is going on and the way Windows assigns the Drive number.
I take it from the fact this has already come up that there is no real way to force a Drive & letter combo.
I guess I am still surprised that my (as yet unformatted) secondary drive gets allocated first, because the main drive is an mSATA - but it is shown listed last in the Dell BIOS... maybe that's why, but I can't see a way to change that order.
Just so I don't make a silly mistake would you recommend which port numbers I plug the secondary drive in, and also the DVD ? [ 'cos the mSata is 0 anyway I guess] . I got the impression that there may be certain combinations that may cause issues.
Finally, should I format the secondary only when the drives are correct, or can I format straight away ?