Reference number: CH000515
How do I change
drives in MS-DOS?
Question:How do I change drives in MS-DOS?
Answer:To change the drive letter in MS-DOS, type the drive letter
followed by a colon. For example, if you wanted to switch to the
floppy disk drive you would type: "a:" at the prompt. Below
is a listing of common drive letters and their corresponding
devices.
| Drive |
Device |
| A: |
Floppy
disk drive (Commonly the 3.5" floppy drive). |
| B: |
Secondary floppy
disk drive, if present (Commonly the 5.25" floppy
drive). |
| C: |
Computer hard
disk drive primary partition
(unless the hard drive is not available or is bad). If
your CD-ROM is the C: drive your computer is
not detecting the hard drive. |
| D: |
Commonly the CD-ROM
drive or other drive unless the computer hard disk drive has
multiple partitions.
If multiple partitions exist, your CD-ROM drive will be the
last letter; for example, if one extended partition exists,
your CD-ROM drive will be the E: drive. |
After pressing enter your computer should change the MS-DOS prompt
to reflect the new drive letter. If the drive does not exist, you
will receive an error similar to
the below error.
The system cannot find the drive specified.
If this
occurs and you know the drive exists, it is likely that your drive is
having problems. See our hard drive,
CD-ROM or other drive help section for the drive you are having
problems with. If the drive exists but does not have media that can
be read you will receive an error similar to the below error.
The device is not ready.
For example, the above error will be received if you attempt to
switch the the floppy disk drive with no diskette in the drive.
Tip: If you just want to list the files on an alternate
drive you can also type dir followed by
the drive letter. For example, "dir a:" will list the files
on the floppy drive but will not switch your prompt to the floppy
drive.
Additional information:
- Additional information about viewing available drives on the
computer can be found on document CH000854.
|
