Force Virtual drive letter assignment

Virtual CD-ROM software does not recognize, and avoid, workstation drive letters that have been previously mapped to a network drive. If these mappings cannot be reassigned, the assignment of Virtual CD Drive Bay letters can be forced to change by making alterations to settings in Virtual CD-ROM, the Windows Device Manager, and the Windows Registry. Improper Registry changes can cause your computer to crash.

Caveat Emptor: Only make Registry changes if you have a startup/boot disk and a backup of the Registry. Do not make changes to any portion of the Registry not specifically mentioned in this explanation.

Change Virtual CD-ROM

1. Open Virtual CD-ROM.
2. Create the total number of desired drive bays.
3. Reboot computer.
4. Open Virtual CD-ROM.
5. In the Virtual CD-ROM window right-click on the drive bay you wish to alter.
6. Select Properties from the menu that opens.
7. Alter the drive letter.
8. Click OK.
9. Repeat steps 5 through 8 for every drive letter you wish to change.

Change Device Manager

1. Double-click on My Computer.
2. Double-click on Control Panel.
3. Double-click on System.
4. Select the Device Manager tab.
5. Open the CD-ROM list by click on the + sign to the left of the words CD-ROM.
6. Select the Virtual CD Drive you wish to alter.
7. Click on the Properties button.
8. Select the Settings tab.
9. The current letter designation will be displayed in the lower third of the window, alter the designation by changing the Start and End Reserved Drive Letters to match the letter you assigned in Virtual CD-ROM.
10. Click on OK.
11. Repeat steps 6 through 10 for every drive letter you wish to change.
12. Reboot the computer.

Change the Registry
The Registry is Windows. Modifications to the Registry may cause your computer to crash. Be very careful when making modifications. Make sure that you have a startup/boot disk and a backup of the Registry. Do not make changes to any portion of the Registry not specifically mentioned here.

1. Select Start.
2. Select Run.
3. Type in the word "regedit" and click on OK. The Registry Editor will open.
4. Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
5. Expand Enum.
6. Expand ESDI.
7. Expand VIRTUAL_CD-ROM_DRIVE.
8. The Virtual drive bays will be listed as ROOT&ADAPTER&0000xx, where xx are numbers or characters.
9. Select the drive bay you wish to alter.
10. A summary of Values and Data for that device will be listed on the right side of the window. There are Values for CurrentDriveLetterAssignment and UserDriveLetterAssignment. Both Values must be altered to match the assignments used in both Virtual CD-ROM and the Device Manager.
    1. Select the Key to be altered.
    2. Right-click on the Key.
    3. Select Modify from the menu that opens.
    4. Edit the Value Data to match previously entered drive letter assignments. The CurrentDriveLetterAssignment has a Data of a single letter; the letter you wish the drive to assigned. The UserDriveLetterAssigment uses double letters as the Data; the desired letter entered twice, with no spaces (i.e. PP).
11. Exit the Registry Editor when done.
12. Reboot the computer.

If either of the Keys is not listed in the summary, select the ROOT&ADAPTER&0000xx and then choose the Edit menu, New, nad then String Value. This will create a new Value which you can name appropriately, and then alter the Data as necessary.

After each of these steps is completed, the drive letter assignments have been forceably altered.