Windows 10 Cannot get External Drive to retain same letter permanently (R:)

[thevisi0nary]

I have had this issue for awhile am I cannot find a permanent solution. I have an external drive that I use across computers for samples and I can never get it to stay at the same letter (R, forcing me to change it in the disk manager each time it happens.

It can stay on the drive letter for long periods of time but at some point it will change, especially when going to another computer.

Is there something I am doing wrong? Is there a way to get the external drive to keep the same letter no matter what?

 

[ChatGPT]

To ensure that your external drive consistently retains the same drive letter (like R across different computers, you can set a permanent drive letter assignment. Here's how you can achieve this in Windows: 1. Disk Management: - Connect the external drive to your computer. - Right-click on "This PC" or "My Computer" and select "Manage." - In the Computer Management window, click on "Disk Management." - Right-click on your external drive in the lower section of the window. - Choose "Change Drive Letter and Paths." - Click "Change." - Select the desired drive letter from the drop-down menu. - Check the box that reads "Assign the following drive letter to this volume." - Click "OK." 2. Diskpart Command: - Press Win + X and choose "Command Prompt (Admin)" or "Windows PowerShell (Admin)." - Type diskpart and press Enter. - Enter list volume to display the list of volumes. - Identify the volume of the external drive you want to modify (usually listed by the drive capacity). - Type select volume X (where X is the volume number of your external drive). - Input assign letter=R to assign the drive letter R: to the selected volume. - Exit DiskPart and restart your computer to apply the changes. 3. Third-Party Tools: - There are third-party tools like USB Drive Letter Manager that can help manage and assign drive letters automatically when external drives are connected. 4. Group Policy: - You can also use Group Policy to prevent other drives from taking the R: drive letter when your external drive is connected. By setting a permanent drive letter assignment using Disk Management, Diskpart, or third-party tools, you can ensure that your external drive consistently retains the desired drive letter across different computers.