Possible to set standard drive letter to E: ?

[blunden]

This is what I asked in my previous post.

I thought about installing Vista Business 64-bit. However, since I read that the installer can't be started from a 32-bit version of Windows, how do I preserve the drive letters I have in my XP install? I have several reasons for wanting them to be exactly the same. This wouldn't be that much of a problem if Vista didn't change all drive letters including the one for the OS partition. Being able to set the Vista install partition to E: would be good enough for me, as then I can change letters for all the other drives. Is this possible?

Summary: I want my partitions to have the same drive letters in Vista as they do in my XP install. The problem is the system partition.

Since this seems to be impossible, is there a way to set the standard drive letter (C:) that vista chooses for the partition you install it on to (E:) by some unattended tweaks or something else?

[tazmaniandevil]

Pass=Windows PE

Component=Microsoft-Windows-Setup

<DiskConfiguration>

<Disk>

<ModifyPartitions>

<ModifyPartition>

<Letter>C</Letter>

You should be able to select any drive letter.

[blunden]

Pass=Windows PE

Component=Microsoft-Windows-Setup

<DiskConfiguration>

<Disk>

<ModifyPartitions>

<ModifyPartition>

<Letter>C</Letter>

You should be able to select any drive letter.

Nice. However, I'm not yet very experianced in unattended installs. What should I search for to understand what to do with that? Is it just something that should be a part of a batch script somewhere? Your help is much appreciated.

EDIT: I was reading a Microsoft Guide (http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsVista...3.mspx?mfr=true) but I was wondering what parts of it I can skip since a lot of it is aimed specifically on making a complete image.

Edited November 16, 2007 by blunden

[tazmaniandevil]

Make the change in WAIK in your wdsclientunattend.xml

As for the guide, unless you want to create images with pre-installed apps etc. I wouldn't bother with much beyond the 'building an answer file' section. You will find all the info you need here. The biggest problem is knowing what to search for. If in doubt ask, if the answer has been posted already, someone will usually point you at the relavent thread. You don't normally get the unhelpful type answers you get on other forums where all they say is search. I find those kind of replys particularly off-puting. We all had to start somewhere after all.

[blunden]

Can it be set to not do anything but change the letter, ie. still let me select the partition to install on? The settings seems to be for selecting the partition to install on too. It would feel a bit safer to select the partition yourself the first time. Also, I don't know what DiskID and PartitionID my specific partition is. In Diskmanager (or whatever it's called in the english version of XP) the disk is called "Disk 2", which I guess is the same as the DiskID but the number for the partition is not listed.

EDIT: Would leaving them blank do just that? (I ask all these questions before trying it out, in the hopes that you are still there, since Microsoft's download server crapped out on me and for some reason only let's me download the files in 40kb/s instead of the usual 3000-3500kb/s. It meant I had to ask a friend to download them and then upload to me.)

EDIT 2: Should I select "Modify" as the action to both Disk and ModifyPartition?

Edited November 16, 2007 by blunden

[blunden]

How should I know the Disk and Partition ID's? I get the feeling they may very well change compared to what XP calls them. Until knowing this, and my other questions, I can't complete my Vista install.

EDIT: I got it all to work now. I had to rename the file to Autounattended.xml though for it to be found by the setup. The Partition and Disk ID's were exactly like in Disk Management in XP. Just in case anyone was wondering about that.

Edited November 23, 2007 by blunden