How Windows assigns drive letters to mounted volumes (drives) on your system
Windows maintains driver letter persistence by storing a reference to each mounted volume and drive letter in the system registry using the following registry key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc978525.aspx
Note: When restoring using the Windows PE rescue media, the letters assigned to restored partitions are temporary for that Windows PE session only. When you boot into the restored system, drive letter assignments will be exactly the same as they were when the image was created.
Changing drive letters in the 'Restore Wizard' or 'Clone Wizard' when running Reflect in Windows
- In the Restore Wizard click the Layout icon link after copying or dragging the partition to the target disk:
In the 'Partition Properties' dialog click the Drive Letter combo box:
Property Description Auto Let Windows automatically assign the next available drive letter None No drive letter will be assigned to the restored partition Letter Select a drive letter to use from the list of free letters. The original drive letter will be selected by default.
Changing drive letters using the Windows Disk Management Console after restoring or cloning
Windows ships with a utility to maintain local drives and partitions called the Windows Disk Management Console (DMC). Using the DMC you can easily change the drive letters assigned to any partition on your system, (except for your system drive C:),
To start the Windows Disk Management Console
Click 'Start' or press the Windows Key, Type the following, and press enter:
diskmgmt.msc
- The DMC starts as shown below:
- Right-click on the partition that you want to change in the lower pane and select Change drive letters and paths:
- In the dialog that opens, select the original drive letter, click Change, choose a new drive letter and finally click OK.
See also:
Restoring and browsing
Restoring an image from within Windows
Restoring a System image from Windows
Modifying restored paritition properties