tonyy Loc: New Zealand

I use an external hard drive with my laptop, with my files in a folder "my lightroom photos"

My computer decided this was drive D, and I have been able to edit files well. I use the same USB port all the time.

Now my computer has decided this is drive E, so I no longer have access to them as Lightroom cannot find them.

No problem I thought, reimport them. I did this and all was working well. Now my computer has decided this is now drive D again.

My questions are, Is there something wrong with my computer (newish Dell)?

Is there something wrong with my external drive (new WD)?

Can I easily change the drive letter in Lightroom when necessary to solve the problem.

Can I easily change the drive name in Windows? The fact that it changes by itself is a bit concerning.

Many Thanks

Tony

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

That is a super annoying characteristic of Windows. Despite what you might here, there is no way to make the drive letter permanent. The computer will change drive letters if you plug something else into a USB port when the drive isn't turned on. It's usually easy enough to change it back.

1. Make sure there is nothing else plugged into a USB port.
2. Right-click on "This PC" on the Desktop.
3. Select Manage and then Disk Management.
4. Find the drive with the wrong letter and right-click on it.
5. Choose "Change Drive Letter and Paths..."
6. From there, you can change the letter to one available from the drop-down selection.

If D is not available, make sure there is nothing extra plugged into a USB port and restart the computer. Then go through the process again.

catalint Loc: oslo

Jerry beat me to it :)

just in case here is a link with screen shots as well .
https://support.wdc.com/knowledgebase/answer.aspx?ID=137#win8



Good Luck

tonyy Loc: New Zealand

Thank you Jerry and catalint for your prompt replies. I'm sure that you have hit the nail on the head and that your suggestions will do the trick!

Cheers

Tony

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Tony,

There is nothing wrong with your computer.

The solution I use is to permanently "Map" a drive name to the device. I use Windows 7, but the process is similar on other versions.

Click on computer from the Start Menu
At the top, select Map Network Drive
Type in the new name (or drive letter), and make sure you select Reconnect at Logon, then finish.

The path will remain the same, regardless of what Windows "thinks" you want to do.

You can even do this for a folder - you can assign Drive L to your "My Lightroom Photos" folder

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

Good Answers Given

catalint Loc: oslo

Tony ,
I think there must be a little misunderstanding, or maybe I am missing something.
it's about just an USB attached drive. Using the map network drive will require a shared folder somewhere on the network or on the USB drive it'self. USB drive will show as local drive. You can of course map a network drive from your computer to your computer, but whats the point when you see the drive already.

What I would suggest in order to make it easier for Windows and this USB drive is to use the last letter available. Windows will always try to use the first available letter, meaning there is a change that this D: drive change can happen again. If you connect something else and your USB drive is not connected, then your drive will most likely be assigned to the new device also. So try putting this USB drive on letter Z for example. Unless you are able to hook as many devices that you've used the whole alphabet, this Z letter should never change for your USB drive.

C.

tonyy Loc: New Zealand

Thank you Gene51, excellent advice

Mundj Loc: Richmond TX

Another solution is to create a new LR Catalog on the same hard drive as the photos and then import from the original catalog. These are available under the "File" tab. You can still back up the LR catalog file to your main hard drive. This will allow you to use the external hard drive on any PC running LR. But you may take a response hit if you are using a USB 2 connection.

tonyy Loc: New Zealand

Thank you for the advice. Cheers. Tony