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Zubair Alexander

Missing Drive Letter for USB Drives

Why does my new external USB hard drive work fine in Windows 2000/XP but not in Windows Server 2003?

by Zubair Alexander

6/27/2007 -- Why does my new external USB hard drive work fine in Windows 2000/XP but not in Windows Server 2003? Even though the system detects the USB drive and installs the driver, why don't I see any drive letters in Explorer or My Computer?

If your system is detecting and installing the driver, then your USB drive is not defective. Windows Server 2003 is installing the drive but is not assigning it a drive letter.

What you need to do is open Computer Management, go to Disk Management and assign your USB drive a new drive letter. Here's the procedure:

Right-click your USB drive in Disk Management and select Change Drive Letter and Paths.
Click Add.
Assign the drive letter of your choice and click OK.

As soon as the drive letter is assigned, you'll see the drive letter show up in Windows Explorer and My Computer. There is no need to reboot your computer. Some users have experienced the exact same problem of missing USB drive letters in Windows XP, as well. The process of adding drive letters in Windows XP is identical to the process for Windows Server 2003 described above.

Zubair Alexander, MCSE, MCT, MCSA and Microsoft MVP is the founder of SeattlePro Enterprises, an IT training and consulting business. His experience covers a wide range of spectrum: trainer, consultant, systems administrator, security architect, network engineer, author, technical editor, college instructor and public speaker. Zubair holds more than 25 technical certifications and Bachelor of Science degrees in Aeronautics & Astronautics Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Information Systems. His Web site, www.techgalaxy.net, is dedicated to technical resources for IT professionals. Zubair may be reached at alexander@techgalaxy.net.

More articles by Zubair Alexander:
FrontPage Server Extensions on 64-bit Windows Server 2008

Synching Outlook 2007 Contacts with SharePoint

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There are 2 user Comments for “Missing Drive Letter for USB Drives”
Page 1 of 1
9/23/08: Anonymous says: question...will i loost all my data if i assign a drive letter?
2/19/09: Anonymous says: And don't forget that the Enterprise and Datacenter versions of Windows Server 2003 don't automount external volumes automatically, but Windows Server 2003 Standard and Storage do! If you want your server to automount external volumes, just run 'diskpart' from command prompt and type 'automount enable'. Works like a charm.

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