How to change Drive icons and labels (Windows XP,2000)

To change Drive icon:
1- Click Start > Click Run > type “regedit” to run Registry Editor
2- Find following:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SOFTWARE / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Explorer
3-create a new Key and name “DriveIcons”
4- Under DriveIcons create a new Key with the drive letter ( for example C ), within drive letter create a new key and name “DefaultIcon”.
5- Give the default value , the icon you want to use, for example : c:\windows\system32/shell32.dll,74

To change Drive Label:
Do step one and two

Under DriveIcons create a new Key with the drive letter ( for example C ), within drive letter create a new key and name “DefaultLabel”.
Give the Default Value, the label you want. For example Windows.

Close Registry Editor and reboot your Computer
Note: editing the registry may damage your system. Please create a restore points before any changes.

 

 

 

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The same can be achieved without going into the system registry in Windows XP.

1. Right-Click on the 'My computer Icon'
2. Select Manage
3. Select Storage Space on the right side of the window that pops up.
4. Select Disk-management.

You should be able to see all the drives and their sizes in the window. Right click the drive you want to change and then select 'Change drive letter'.

If you need to exchange drive letters between 2 drives (say D: and E:), change the first one to some letter like 'W:' and then change the second one to D: and then change the first one from W: to E:. I used this method to change my CD Drive letter from D: to H:... it's better if the CD comes after the HDD .

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XP Warning
How To Change Drive Icons And Labels

Changing drive letters via the XP method given above immediately brings up the following message & a Yes/No option: 'Changing the drive letter of a volume might cause programs to no longer run. Are you sure you want to change this drive letter?'

What are the chances that ignoring the warning will result in non-functioning software or worse having to re-install XP?

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It should not really affect the Windows XP operating system itself, but some programs may be unable to locate necessary files. For example, if certain settings or files are stored at C:\Settings\ and you've changed the drive letter from C:\ to G:\, programs may be unable to find the files it is looking for. But most programs should allow you to correct this.

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