Windows 7: Multiple Physical drives as one letter (No RAID)

lubama · 01 Jan 2011

As the title says I will like to set more than one drive listed as a single letter, so all the data inside, can be easily share on the network

Thanks

Luis

SeanHellen · 01 Jan 2011

I am not sure if this is possible as I am having hdd troubles myself and it seems that I have 2 hdd's the same letter which is confusing the computer. I would think that this is why raid was "invented". Like I say, not sure but Im am sure that someone with more knowledge will come along and correct me

TonyTiger2004 · 01 Jan 2011

Hey Lubama, Would like to give my assistance at this issue your having, Im sorry your having troubles. You've come to the right place

If all you want to do it change your drive letter simply use the disk management utility allows you to format partition or change your drive letter (obviously your option)

Simply go to start and type in create and format hard disk partitions once that loads up (may take a moment) you can then right click on the drives you wish to change and simply click change drive letter then Click change you will then change the drive letter to one of your choice. Hope this helps

SeanHellen · 01 Jan 2011

But in the disk management window, it says change disk letter, but it then gives you options of which letters are free - and since 1 of your drives will have a letter, this letter will be taken from the list (eg you wont see your hard disk, cd rom or floppy drive letters in the list as they have been taken)

joebots · 01 Jan 2011

See if your HD controller supports JBOD (Just a Bunch of Discs). Should be in the manual if it does.

lubama · 01 Jan 2011

Quote: Originally Posted by TonyTiger2004

Hey Lubama, Would like to give my assistance at this issue your having, Im sorry your having troubles. You've come to the right place

If all you want to do it change your drive letter simply use the disk management utility allows you to format partition or change your drive letter (obviously your option)

Simply go to start and type in create and format hard disk partitions once that loads up (may take a moment) you can then right click on the drives you wish to change and simply click change drive letter then Click change you will then change the drive letter to one of your choice. Hope this helps

Thank you Tony

This is what I'll like to do:
I have multiple physical drives (5) with media (movies), I want to have all those drives showing as a large drive, I don't want to use RAID, I know JOBD is a good option, although if I loose one drive I might loose everything else, I don't really care because I have all the movies in disk but is a lot of work to do. There is an option to have a new folder in a drive and add all the drives inside that folder but I can't make it work.

Luis

Golden · 01 Jan 2011

Hi Lubama,

You need to be a little bit careful with how you configure these disks, or you may inadvertently lose the data on one or all of them.

Please provide more detail on these disks and your system (Fill in your system specs). Are they existing disks with data on them, that were removed from an older system, and you now want to insert them into a new system?

I'm unsure whether this can be achieved, with or without a RAID or JBOD configuration. My suggestion is to not do anything until a more experienced person can help you out here.

Regards,
Golden

Kari · 01 Jan 2011

Absolutely easiest way to do this is to create a new library, then add all your five disks to the library. After that, you just need to share the library. Easy and simple, you need like 30 seconds to set it up. Windows 7 really makes it easy.

Kari

WindowsStar · 01 Jan 2011

Quote: Originally Posted by Kari

Absolutely easiest way to do this is to create a new library, then add all your five disks to the library. After that, you just need to share the library. Easy and simple, you need like 30 seconds to set it up. Windows 7 really makes it easy.

Kari

+1

lubama · 02 Jan 2011

Quote: Originally Posted by Golden

Hi Lubama,

You need to be a little bit careful with how you configure these disks, or you may inadvertently lose the data on one or all of them.

Please provide more detail on these disks and your system (Fill in your system specs). Are they existing disks with data on them, that were removed from an older system, and you now want to insert them into a new system?

I'm unsure whether this can be achieved, with or without a RAID or JBOD configuration. My suggestion is to not do anything until a more experienced person can help you out here.

Regards,
Golden

Thank you Golden

I didn't filled the system specs due to I have more than one and in the future if I need help on one of the others it my be confusing
This particular one is my server:
Asus M2N-SLI DELUXE M/B with AMD CPU, this particular board has hardware RAID but I will not like to use it if I can find another way.
The disks are already in the system and they have data, I have a large empty HD that I can use, in case I need to move files around, to accomplish my purpose

Luis

Windows 7: Multiple Physical drives as one letter (No RAID)

Multiple Physical drives as one letter (No RAID) problems?