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Last edited by Brink; 11 Oct 2012 at 12:23. Reason: added quote
Thanks for this great tip I really appreciate all the knowledge here. I saw the post about creating a backup which I did. My problem is my system isn't allowing me to have two usb drives with the same letter (I don't have them both plugged in at the same time, I unplug one and reinsert the other, assign it drive a then plug the first one in and it's back to drive e). Any thoughts?
Hello Woodward, and welcome to Seven Forums.
This would be normal. Each drive has a unique hardware ID (HID) number that it is referenced by when it is connected and assigned a drive letter. This is how Windows knows what drive letters are used and what to give it the next time it's connected.
It's really best to let each drive to have it's own drive letter so Windows will know what files are on each drive. If you really must use the same drive letter, then you could use OPTION TWO in the tutorial below to change the drive letter, but you'll have to do it each time you connect either drive.
https://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials...ndows-7-a.html
Hope this helps some, :)
Shawn
Thanks Shawn;
That does help but it leaves me with the question of how do I get the start key to work on my computer if my original usb drive becomes corrupt? My second usb is not recognized as drive a anymore.
Could I assign it as drive a on another machine?
Thanks again, Phil
You're welcome Phil,
It doesn't matter what USB key the StartKey.Key file is on for it to work to unlock Windows so long as the StartKey.Key file is on it and connected.
The blue NOTE box under step 7 Option One can give you more details, but you should keep a copy of the StartKey.Key file backed up somewhere safe in case your USB key does get corrupted, lost, broken, etc.... This way you could just copy the backup of the StartKey.Key file to a new USB, and be good to go. :)
Thanks again, i was confusing the drive a requirement with predator, which i use also. Sorry about that and thanks again.
Hi, I have a question on this.
Should I lose the USB key, and the spare USB key... would it work if I stored that file on something like "Google Drive" so I can access it from any computer, then drag/drop the file onto the USB stick, then I can just put it into the laptop and it will work again. Is that correct?
I'm worried about never being able to access the laptop ever again if something went wrong!
Hello Amnesia,
Yes, that would work as well. As long as that StartKey.Key file is on the root directory of a connected USB key, you would be good to go. :)
Last edited by Brink; 16 Jan 2013 at 14:25.
Brilliant, thank you. Does the USB key always have to read as the same drive number? How would I ensure this?