? re: potential CD-ROM/HPA drive letter changes from partiti

[Matt_]

This will be my first time using Partition Magic, and I am trying to be as prepared as possible before I use it.
I have read the different threads on this forum regarding the Hidden Protected Area and that I need to "unhide" it before proceeding with using Partition Magic to partition my hard drive.
I have several questions regarding how the drive letters might change.
The Partition Magic manual says

p.111 The operating system assigns drive letters in this order: (1)the first recognized primary partition on each hard disk, (2)all logical partitions on each hard disk, (3)any other primary partitions on each hard disk, and (4)the CD-ROM drive and any other forms of removable media.

I thought that it might be a good idea to assign permanently the "D:" drive letter to my 2373-CWU's optical drive since programs now and in the future might not work properly if the optical drive's drive letter changes due to new/deleted partitions.

p. 84 When you create, merge, delete, hide, and unhide partitions, your drive letters can change, causing applications not to run because application shortcuts, initialization files, and registry entries refer to incorrect drives.

1) If I do this, I am confused about how/where to do it. Page 62 gives directions on how to use within Parition Magic "Change Drive Letter" (Click Partition > Advanced > Change Drive Letter) but it also says "You cannot use this operation to change the drive letter for your CD drive."
So am I supposed to do it according to the way that is explained in this Microsoft Knowledge Base Article ?

2) If I permanently assign "D:" to the optical drive, what will happen if I were to remove it to replace it with, say, a travel bezel, an ultraslim bay battery, or an ultrabay slim second hard drive ?

3A) Do I need to permanently assign the a drive letter to the optical drive before I "unhide" IBM's "Hidden Protection Area" ? In other words, will unhiding the HPA cause the operating system to assign the optical drive a different letter (such as "E:") ?

3B) For right now I am only planning to create two partitions (a "C:" partition and a second partition for data) or possibly three partitions (a "C:" partition, a data partition, and possibly a third partition for backing up the "C:" partition).
At a later date if for some reason I need to "unhide" again the HPA, will that cause the operating system to reassign different different drive letters to that data partition (and back-up partition, if I decide to create it) ? If so, once I create that/those partition(s), should I permanently assign their drive letters, too ?

Thank you in advance for your time and help

[Danny Manabat]

first, you should know that when you "unhide" the HPA and convert it to usable space in your hard disk --- the HPA will be lost, gone. The only way to have the HPA back is if you have the recovery cd for the HPA.

for your questions, my! plenty...let me just share what i have experienced since i am not an expert on this.

3B) you can create multiple partitions using partition magic without "unhiding" the HPA. do this when you have installed the factory contents only. this is to ensure that you have enough unoccupied space in the hdd to convert to a partition.

3A) assuming that you have multiple partitions and you unhide the HPA, the HPA won't have a drive assigned to it, not until to "re-claim" and format it.

if you plan to partition your primary drive (the built-in drive) - i suggest you use drive letters in sequence C: D: and E: then your optical drive can be F: -- so, when you remove you optical drive in favor of a weight saver, a travel bezel, an ultraslim bay battery, or an ultrabay slim second hard drive, the drive assignment sequence are stil as they are.

i have C: D: as my partitions and E: as my optical drive.

1) partition magic is for the hard disk, that's why you cannot use it to assign drive letter to a cd or optical drive.

3A) unhiding the HPA will not cause the operating system to assign a new drive to the optical drive. but, if you "re-claim" the HPA and format it, then the HPA will be assigned a drive.

if you plan to have your partitions in sequence, say C: D: E: and you want the optical dirve to be F: --- you can remove the optical drive, use partition magic to create the partitions, D: E: --- then install back the optical drive. windows will automatically assign the next letter to the optical drive, in this case F:

if you plan to have D: as the optical drive, then leave the system as it is and use partition magic to create the partitions. the next available letter in this case E: F: can then be assigned to the partitions.

'hope i did not make you more confused.

[Matt_]

"I hope i did not make you more confused"

Thank you Danny for taking the time to help me. On the contrary, you helped a great deal to clarify things for me. I was sidetracked in a big way with problems with my first 2373 and then returning it and also with other things, so I'm sorry for not thanking you until now.