Hey, Grub did that too.
In the same idea, that it isn't too late, I can tell what was my solution for a
Windows 2000 box.
So, after you log on, you are quickly logged out. If you have the verbose
messaging enabled, you can see how Windows is running for while something in
cryptnet.dll.
The solution recommended by Microsoft is to create a folder Winnt on the root on
the suspected new C: drive (ow Windows, depending on your installation). Then,
inside it, you must create a folder System32 and, inside it, you must add an
USERINIT.EXE.
I've managed to do this with a previous Linux installation, on top of which I've
installed the captive-ntfs file driver, which uses the idea of Wine (reusing the
DLLs from a Windows installation), but you can do it an XP Preinstallation
Environment. You may do it booting the recovery console of a Windows 2000/XP
boot CD, create the fake dirs, and C:\EXPAND the USERINIT.EX_ that must be
somewhere on the CD (though I'm sure that, by default, one cannot write on disk
without activating this obscure option in a Local Computer Policy while the
computer was still running).
Then, you'll boot normally and a bunch of services and stuff will fall, because
the other drive letters might be still messed, but you should be allowed to
change what drive letter you want, _except_ system drive letter, which still
should be D: Hence, we're back where we were.
But if you have Terminal Services or Remote Registry services or some similar
workaround, you may modify the keys from the registry that assign to each letter
a signature (kind of a GUID) for each drive. It is under "HKLM/System/Mounted
devices", but I couldn't do anything.
And here comes the easy one. Boot with a Win98 CD on DOS environment and chkdsk
/mbr (or was it fdisk /mbr ?). The obscure method which Windows 2000 uses to
build a GUID from a drive is messed up and, automagically, my Windows assigned
the correct drive letters. Of course, you may loose your custom MBR, if you have
one, but you can always restore it.
Hope it helps,
LS.


Shawn Van Ness wrote:

> D'oh, I should have realized that it wouldn't let you change the
> *boot* driver letter... sorry for leading you to a dead end, there.
>
>
>>one of the things that stops working is Help and Support Center.
>
>
> LOL!
> -S
>
>
> --- In win_tech_off_topic@yahoogroups.com, "johndiiix"
> <john_wilkinson_iii_79@p...> wrote:
>
>>Thanks, Shawn. When you boot a drive as D:, when Windows was
>>originally installed when it was the C: drive, one of the things
>>that stops working is Help and Support Center. I could still get
>
> IE
>
>>to work, though.
>>
>>I did get to the drive management app, but it was no help. First
>
> of
>
>>all, it won't allow you to change the letter of the boot drive.
>>Second, I also would not allow me to change the drive letter of the
>>new C: drive (I don't recall the reason, but it was some persistent
>>error that would have taken effort to research). I talked to
>
> Maxtor
>
>>support via e-mail, and their solution was to reformat the drive
>
> and
>
>>start over.
>>
>>That's what I ended up doing. A note to anyone who is considering
>>replacing a boot drive in this fashion: Boot the system the first
>>time with the new drive as the ONLY drive visible to the OS. That
>>way you're guaranteed to get the boot drive as C:.
>>
>>Thanks again for your help.
>>
>>John
>>
>>--- In win_tech_off_topic@yahoogroups.com, "Shawn A. Van Ness"
>><yahoo@w...> wrote:
>>
>>>http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307844
>>>
>>>Most of this info is also available under Start / Run... / Help
>>
>>and Support.
>>
>>>Query for "assign change or remove a drive letter".
>>>
>>>-S
>>>
>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>From: johndiiix [mailto:john_wilkinson_iii_79@p...]
>>>Sent: Saturday, May 01, 2004 08:34
>>>To: win_tech_off_topic@yahoogroups.com
>>>Subject: [OT] Drive letters under XP
>>>
>>>While replacing a failing boot drive in an XP system, I somehow
>>>managed to get the system drive as D: - even when booting with no
>>>other drives connected, it comes up as D:. This has messed up a
>>>variety of things, and I'd like to restore the system if
>>
>>possible.
>>
>>>Does anyone know of a technique or utility to change the drive
>>>letter of the boot drive on XP?
>>>
>>>I originally used the Maxtor disk copy utility to transfer the
>>>contents of the failing drive to the new one. This worked pretty
>>>well, although it was very slow (3+ hours to copy 20G). Does
>>
>>anyone
>>
>>>know if this could have tagged the drive with a permanent label
>>>somehow?
>>>
>>>Thanks in advance for any insight.
>>>
>>>John
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>