Geekzone: technology news, blogs, forums
Guest
Welcome Guest.
You haven't logged in yet. If you don't have an account you can register now.


mruane

420 posts

Ultimate Geek


#32880 26-Apr-2009 12:24
Send private message

Hi,

I have a backup strategy which I have just implemented, that uses a removable USB disk device i.e. the iTANK system.  The iTANK is a fixed USB and/or eSATA enclosure that enables removable 3.5" hard disks to be swapped in and out.  So, whilst the disk is swapped in and out, the enclosure is always mounted.  I have been using the USB option rather than the eSATA port.

My strategy is to use a backup system like Nova Backup to execute a daily bakup to the removable disk and then, on a regular basis, I will swap out the removable hard disk and replace it with a second disk until the next cycle period.

The problem I have is that everytime I switch the enclosure off and then on again (after swapping the disk), the drive gets a assigned a new drive letter by Windows XP, meaning that I have to manually reassign it back to the drive letter I want to use (i.e. K:) to suit the script I have create for the backup program.

Does anyone know of a method to mount a USB drive so that it always gets the same drive letter assigned, or a script that can check perhaps the volume label and manually assign a drive letter using diskpart or something similar.

Cheers Mike

Create new topic
exportgoldman
1202 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

  #209466 26-Apr-2009 13:21
Send private message


We have this problem at lot with the RDX cartridges, which are similar to iTalk but 2.5" hard drives.

From memory we fixed it by formatting the drives as NTFS instead of FAT32.

Who distributes iTalk in NZ?




Tyler - Parnell Geek - iPhone 3G - Lenovo X301 - Kaseya - Great Western Steak House, these are some of my favourite things.



hellonearthisman
1819 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

  #209486 26-Apr-2009 14:35
Send private message

Can't the drive been addressed by it's drive name and not the name assigned by the windows?

exportgoldman
1202 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

  #209493 26-Apr-2009 15:34
Send private message

hellonearthisman: Can't the drive been addressed by it's drive name and not the name assigned by the windows?


If it was unix, for sure. Within windows you would have to make a script to check all the drive labels and then get the drive letter to use for file actions




Tyler - Parnell Geek - iPhone 3G - Lenovo X301 - Kaseya - Great Western Steak House, these are some of my favourite things.



mruane

420 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #209497 26-Apr-2009 15:50
Send private message

exportgoldman:

We have this problem at lot with the RDX cartridges, which are similar to iTalk but 2.5" hard drives.



From memory we fixed it by formatting the drives as NTFS instead of FAT32.



Who distributes iTalk in NZ?




Both of the disks are formatted as NTFS!




The iTalk is distributed through www.ascent.co.nz and presumably others and are a reasonaby good choice to my mind.


I have been very happy with the choice - but for this issue! I suppose one option might be to setup a form of autorun that could mount the device as a share. Then I could configure the bacikup programs to write to the share disregarding any drive letter. I will investigate that some more.


Cheers Mike


mrrosh
3 posts

Wannabe Geek


  #209503 26-Apr-2009 16:45
Send private message

Dear Mike;

You can use
"USBDLM V4.2.5 - USB Drive Letter Manager for Windows 2000, XP, Server 2003 and Vista "

Site: http://www.uwe-sieber.de/usbdlm_e.html

Allows you to ensure the same drive letter is assigned to USB devices, this can be controlled by device ID, Volume name, drive type, size, USB port number.

Thanks

mruane

420 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #209516 26-Apr-2009 18:13
Send private message

Thanks mrrosh - well spotted. That looks like the sweet spot. I liked the option this program has to respond to an INI file on the drive and mount to the drive letter identified in that file, or mounting to a specific letter depending on Volume ID - perfect.

I appreciate your including the link. I missed that one during my earlier search for a solution.

Thanks again
Mike...

mruane

420 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #211896 3-May-2009 17:20
Send private message

Just a quick final update to this question, the USBDLM option suggested by mrrosh worked like a charm. I download the pack and installed it onto the XP box being used as a media server and on replacing the iTANK drive today and switching back on, it was assigned the drive letter I needed it to use.

Sweet solution mrrosh - thanks for the tip!!!

Cheers Mike

Create new topic





News and reviews »

Air New Zealand Starts AI adoption with OpenAI
Posted 24-Jul-2025 16:00


eero Pro 7 Review
Posted 23-Jul-2025 12:07


BeeStation Plus Review
Posted 21-Jul-2025 14:21


eero Unveils New Wi-Fi 7 Products in New Zealand
Posted 21-Jul-2025 00:01


WiZ Introduces HDMI Sync Box and other Light Devices
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:32


RedShield Enhances DDoS and Bot Attack Protection
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:26


Seagate Ships 30TB Drives
Posted 17-Jul-2025 11:24


Oclean AirPump A10 Water Flosser Review
Posted 13-Jul-2025 11:05


Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7: Raising the Bar for Smartphones
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 Brings New Edge-To-Edge FlexWindow
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Epson Launches New AM-C550Z WorkForce Enterprise printer
Posted 9-Jul-2025 18:22


Samsung Releases Smart Monitor M9
Posted 9-Jul-2025 17:46


Nearly Half of Older Kiwis Still Write their Passwords on Paper
Posted 9-Jul-2025 08:42


D-Link 4G+ Cat6 Wi-Fi 6 DWR-933M Mobile Hotspot Review
Posted 1-Jul-2025 11:34


Oppo A5 Series Launches With New Levels of Durability
Posted 30-Jun-2025 10:15









Geekzone Live »

Try automatic live updates from Geekzone directly in your browser, without refreshing the page, with Geekzone Live now.



Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.