Windows 2000 cant change drive tags

  • Thread starter Thread starter promicro
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promicro

Hi to all,

for some reason my Compact Drive labels changed to xm/sd and I can't
change them back. the other drives in my folders give me the option to
rename, and the general tab in the properties box of the other drives
allow a label change but not the CD labels. I have tried this in both
the folders list and the 'my computer' box.

I also tried to change it in the registry with the same results.
(I restored the registry)

thanks to all for your suggestions,

bob
 
"promicro" <promicro@cox.net> wrote in message
news:OFGami33IHA.4988@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> Hi to all,
>
> for some reason my Compact Drive labels changed to xm/sd and I can't
> change them back. the other drives in my folders give me the option to
> rename, and the general tab in the properties box of the other drives
> allow a label change but not the CD labels. I have tried this in both the
> folders list and the 'my computer' box.
>
> I also tried to change it in the registry with the same results.
> (I restored the registry)
>
> thanks to all for your suggestions,
>
> bob

Click Start / Run / diskmgmt.msc, then make the change there.
 
Pegasus (MVP) wrote:
> "promicro" <promicro@cox.net> wrote in message
> news:OFGami33IHA.4988@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>> Hi to all,
>>
>> for some reason my Compact Drive labels changed to xm/sd and I can't
>> change them back. the other drives in my folders give me the option to
>> rename, and the general tab in the properties box of the other drives
>> allow a label change but not the CD labels. I have tried this in both the
>> folders list and the 'my computer' box.
>>
>> I also tried to change it in the registry with the same results.
>> (I restored the registry)
>>
>> thanks to all for your suggestions,
>>
>> bob
>
> Click Start / Run / diskmgmt.msc, then make the change there.
>
>
thanks for your reply...

I did this and get the same situation: diskmgmt only has a change drive
letter and path - no spot or mention of the labels...

bob
 
"promicro" <promicro@cox.net> wrote in message
news:4870E458.2070705@cox.net...
> Pegasus (MVP) wrote:
>> "promicro" <promicro@cox.net> wrote in message
>> news:OFGami33IHA.4988@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>>> Hi to all,
>>>
>>> for some reason my Compact Drive labels changed to xm/sd and I can't
>>> change them back. the other drives in my folders give me the option to
>>> rename, and the general tab in the properties box of the other drives
>>> allow a label change but not the CD labels. I have tried this in both
>>> the folders list and the 'my computer' box.
>>>
>>> I also tried to change it in the registry with the same results.
>>> (I restored the registry)
>>>
>>> thanks to all for your suggestions,
>>>
>>> bob
>>
>> Click Start / Run / diskmgmt.msc, then make the change there.
> thanks for your reply...
>
> I did this and get the same situation: diskmgmt only has a change drive
> letter and path - no spot or mention of the labels...
>
> bob

Re-installing the CD driver via the Control Panel / System / Hardware
Manager might help. You could also try an updated driver from Compaq
(if it is a Compaq machine - you wrote "Compact").
 
"promicro" wrote:

> Hi to all,

Howdy.

> for some reason my Compact Drive labels changed to xm/sd
> and I can't change them back.

Compact-Disk drives DON'T HAVE labels. Only the volumes (CDs)
you insert INTO the drive have labels. Even if you somehow managed
to change the label attached to the empty drive to, say, "Cowabunga",
it would immediately change to "Fast Taxes 2009" or "Best of Pink Floyd"
or whatever, the instant you insert a CD into the drive.

What do you mean by "xm/sd"? My CD drive label always reads
"Compact Disk" when empty, and I can't change it. Also,
I don't think a slant-bar is a valid character in a volume label.

> the other drives in my folders give me the option to rename

The other drives in your system are not removable media. It's
the media that's labeled, not the drive. So while for fixed
media (hard disks) the label can be relatively permanant, for
removable-media drives (CD, DVD, tape, etc) the volume label
changes every time you insert or remove media.

--
Cheers,
Robbie Hatley
lonewolf aatt well dott com
www dott well dott com slant user slant lonewolf slant
 
Robbie Hatley wrote:

> Compact-Disk drives DON'T HAVE labels. Only the volumes (CDs)
> you insert INTO the drive have labels.

I don't know whether this is what the OP means by "labels" but on this
machine I'm using for example, my CD/DVD drives are (correctly) listed
in My Computer as Compact Disc (X:) and Compact Disc (Y:).

On one of my other machines however, one of the CD/DVD drives always
lists as Zip Drive (X:) even though it is actually a DVD-Rom drive (and
should therefore be listed as Compact Disc (X:). I've no idea why it
happens and, frankly, it's never really bothered me but it sounds like
the same problem the OP has.

I don't know whether this nomenclature is strictly called "labels" or
not but I suspect that is what the OP is talking about. (Perhaps "drive
labels" as opposed to "disc-labels"?).
 
Sid Elbow wrote:
> Robbie Hatley wrote:
>
>> Compact-Disk drives DON'T HAVE labels. Only the volumes (CDs)
>> you insert INTO the drive have labels.
>
> I don't know whether this is what the OP means by "labels" but on this
> machine I'm using for example, my CD/DVD drives are (correctly) listed
> in My Computer as Compact Disc (X:) and Compact Disc (Y:).
>
> On one of my other machines however, one of the CD/DVD drives always
> lists as Zip Drive (X:) even though it is actually a DVD-Rom drive (and
> should therefore be listed as Compact Disc (X:). I've no idea why it
> happens and, frankly, it's never really bothered me but it sounds like
> the same problem the OP has.
>
> I don't know whether this nomenclature is strictly called "labels" or
> not but I suspect that is what the OP is talking about. (Perhaps "drive
> labels" as opposed to "disc-labels"?).

hi Sid, you are correct - if you open the 'my computer' box (and the
folder tree of the Windows Explorer) the icons have a name/type label
underneath. the icons depict the type of drive and are not changeable by
the user but the labels are if the drive is fixed. 2 weeks ago my 2 dvd
drives showed a cd disk icon each with the label of 'Compact Disk(d:)'.a
few days later the 1st dvd drive had the label 'sm/xd/SM Drive(d:)' and
i can't find out why or how to change it. (it may have occurred when i
re-activated my card reader, but i've tried de-activating and
re-activating it with no success)

it is a small matter and i am not Adrian Monk, but when you like labels
to be accurate it is annoying.

thanks, bob
 
promicro wrote:
> hi Sid, you are correct - if you open the 'my computer' box (and the
> folder tree of the Windows Explorer) the icons have a name/type label
> underneath. the icons depict the type of drive and are not changeable by
> the user but the labels are if the drive is fixed. 2 weeks ago my 2 dvd
> drives showed a cd disk icon each with the label of 'Compact Disk(d:)'.a
> few days later the 1st dvd drive had the label 'sm/xd/SM Drive(d:)' and
> i can't find out why or how to change it. (it may have occurred when i
> re-activated my card reader, but i've tried de-activating and
> re-activating it with no success)
>
> it is a small matter and i am not Adrian Monk, but when you like labels
> to be accurate it is annoying.

If you want something to "twiddle with" try opening up <Computer
Management> then open <Physical Location> in the <Storage> part of the tree.

Locate the drive, right click and select <Properties>. One of the tabs
is "MEDIA" and it purports to let you change the media type that's
displayed for that drive. If nothing else, you may be able to change it
to something else and then back again to see if it will reset itself.

Note: I've never fiddled with this myself so it's at your own risk. You
might want to do a backup first.
 
"Sid Elbow" wrote:

> Robbie Hatley wrote:
>
> > Compact-Disk drives DON'T HAVE labels. Only the volumes (CDs)
> > you insert INTO the drive have labels.
>
> I don't know whether this is what the OP means by "labels" but on this
> machine I'm using for example, my CD/DVD drives are (correctly) listed
> in My Computer as Compact Disc (X:) and Compact Disc (Y:).

I'd call those "volume label placeholders". Basically, it's text
to fill in the (otherwise blank) space where the volume label
should go, when there is NO VOLUME in the drive, or when there
is a volume, but it's unlabeled.

My C: drive (a hard disk) here at work, for example, was labeled
"Local Disk (C:)". But that was just a placeholder. I launched
a command console, typed "dir", and got:

"Volume in drive C has no label."

I then went into Windows Explorer, changed the label to "Aragorn",
went back to cmd console, typed "dir", and got:

"Volume in drive C is Aragorn."

> On one of my other machines however, one of the CD/DVD drives always
> lists as Zip Drive (X:) even though it is actually a DVD-Rom drive (and
> should therefore be listed as Compact Disc (X:). I've no idea why it
> happens and, frankly, it's never really bothered me but it sounds like
> the same problem the OP has.

I'd guess there's probably a setting in the registry for these
"label placeholders". I'd guess Windows looked at the drive the
first time it was noticed after installation, deduced the type
(wrongly), and wrote "Zip Drive". I dunno if changing it in the
registry would permanantly fix it or not. If Windows determines
the type (rightly or wrongly) of drives, and labels them accordingly,
on every startup, that fix wouldn't work. You'd have to alter
it's drive-type recognition procedure.

> I don't know whether this nomenclature is strictly called
> "labels" or not but I suspect that is what the OP is talking
> about. (Perhaps "drive labels" as opposed to "disc-labels"?).

The "drive label" is always a single capital letter. Perhaps
call what we're talking about "volume label placeholders".
I dunno if MS has an official name for it.

--
Cheers,
Robbie Hatley
lonewolf aatt well dott com
www dott well dott com slant user slant lonewolf slant
 
Robbie Hatley wrote:
> "Sid Elbow" wrote:

>> On one of my other machines however, one of the CD/DVD drives always
>> lists as Zip Drive (X:) even though it is actually a DVD-Rom drive
>
> I'd guess there's probably a setting in the registry for these
> "label placeholders". I'd guess Windows looked at the drive the
> first time it was noticed after installation, deduced the type
> (wrongly), and wrote "Zip Drive".

There was actually an IDE Zip-Drive installed on this machine in the
long distant past and it probably dates from that. I don't have
immediate access to that machine, but on the machine I'm currently
using, if I go to the location in <Computer Management> that I mentioned
to promicro, it appears to list every drive that I've ever had installed
on this machine including those that are long gone. It would appear that
simply removing the hardware (while that may disappear them from Device
Manager) doesn't remove them from this list....Windows has a long memory.

It does appear that that you can delete/reassign the listings at this
point in <Computer Management>. I haven't tried it yet but I will when I
get access to that machine.



> The "drive label" is always a single capital letter. Perhaps
> call what we're talking about "volume label placeholders".
> I dunno if MS has an official name for it.

Possibly. In any event, I did understand what the OP meant and I would
guess that, from his/her point of view, getting help for the problem is
more important than the semantics.
 
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