From: nospam@needed.invalid   
      
   On Sat, 1/10/2026 9:19 AM, Steve wrote:   
   > On 1/6/2026 10:30 PM, Brian Gregory wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>> OK, here's my update:   
   >>> I downloaded Macrium Reflect and used that, because several people   
   recommended Macrium. I have now cloned all of my Drive C: onto the Samsung SSD.   
   >>> Back when I was still trying to get Samsung Magician to work, something I   
   read said just shut down and swap drives and Windows should boot right up from   
   the new drive.   
   >>> Both drives are already in the computer so, while it was shut down, I   
   unhooked the old hard drive and started it up. I didn't really expect it to be   
   that easy and of course it wasn't. As it tried to start up, it listed my DVD   
   drive (E:), followed by    
   the SSD (J:). Then it moved on to a screen that was blank except for a dash   
   line in the upper left corner.   
   >>> I plugged the old drive back in and waited for it to slowly start up so I   
   could get back here again.   
   >>> I notice in File Explorer the drives listed are...   
   >>> (C:)   
   >>> Factory image (D:) (Which is probably a copy of Windows 7) (I did not   
   clone (D:) onto the new SSD.) It's on the old drive as a partition.   
   >>> DVD RW E:   
   >>> System (J:)  (J:) I had labeled as SSD (J:) before something changed it.   
   "This folder is empty" comes up when I click it.   
   >>> (K:) It shows the same list of files as when I click (C:). Why is that?   
   >> How did it get the J: letter?   
   >>   
   >> It should not have any partitions on it before cloning therefore it should   
   not have had any drive letters.   
   >   
   > Back when I was still trying to use Samsung Magician, people suggested   
   > I probably needed to format the new drive and assign a drive letter.   
   > When I did that, I didn't choose J:, it just showed up that way.   
      
   Via automation, letters are automatically assigned for storage devices.   
   Once the partition is recognized, usually a letter like J: will appear on   
   its own.   
      
   But, this does not always happen. Sometimes, perfectly good looking partitions,   
   no partitions on a drive receive letters in Disk Management, and then in   
   File Explorer there is no way to access any partitions on the new disk.   
      
     +-----+  +--------+--------+--------+   
     | Box |  |   A:   |   B:   |   C:   |        The "Box" is the    
   hole-device-level control box.   
     +-----+  +--------+--------+--------+   
     +-----+  +--------+--------+--------+   
     | Box |  | (Nope) | (Nope) | (Nope) |  <=== can't see in File Explorer as   
   letters   
     +-----+  +--------+--------+--------+   
      
   With USB devices and a declaration in the config space that they are   
   a "removable device", Windows choose to only mount the first Windows partition   
   it finds and it can ignore the rest. There was a claim this was fixed in   
   W10/W11,   
   but again, I'm not sure that is always the case. USB boot sticks intended for   
   Linux,   
   maybe the ESP mounts and all other partitions are ignored. I even had a USB   
   stick, that only had an ESP show up as a partition, and the partition with   
   the boot materials was completely invisible! That was a new one on me, as when   
   the partition table has valid entries, Windows always draws boxes in Disk   
   Management, even if the partition cannot be mounted. Notice how in the above   
   drawing, Windows is refusing to complete the automation steps, but it STILL   
   drew the boxes around the stuff it refuses to touch.   
      
   The summary of this is:   
      
   1) When you plug in media you did not prepare yourself, items of   
      substantial mystery-meat state, you *always* check in Disk Management first.   
      Examine the device to see what corner-case it is triggering...   
      
   2) Assign drive letters if the stupid thing refuses to work.   
      The Nopes above can be turned into drive letters.   
      If a partition is Linux EXT4 and no IFS driver software is present,   
      no letter or attempt to mount, is possible for that partition.   
      
   3) The left-most box in the Disk Management row, contains an "Offline"/"Online"   
      control. If you set a disk to "Offline" state, all the partitions are   
      unmounted. A user may do this for safety reasons (to stop the next program   
      they run, from reading or writing that disk drive). And the feature is   
      persistent. A drive set "Offline" in one session, is "Offline" on the   
      next boot, and you open Disk Management and put it "Online" again.   
      
   diskmgmt.msc (Disk Management) is your friend.   
      
   The command line equivalent of Disk Management is "diskpart.exe".   
      
   File explorer ("explorer.exe) is then the convenience station   
   once all your hardware is "settled" and any questions about   
   mystery-meat have been answered by Disk Management.   
      
   *******   
      
   If you have been given an unelevated account at work, this   
   can put a crimp in your style with regard to disks. A number of   
   work situations do not allow USB sticks, not at all, and then   
   the issue of needing an elevated account to do stuff... is   
   solved for you.   
      
   When you set up Windows at home, the first account is elevated,   
   and that's what gives the permissions to "do everything". DO NOT   
   delete the account with the elevation, or you will be very sorry :-)   
   There used to be hacks to let you back in, but a number of those   
   were closed by Microsoft in recent years. You need to keep at   
   least ONE elevated account in an operational state, in order   
   to be able to do what is needed.   
      
   While the computer has an actual Administrator account, it is   
   not enabled by default, and instead the first-account-user   
   is a "member of the Administrator group" which achieves the   
   same result. That's the situation for home users. That's why you   
   can do things to disk drives. When you are at work, the machine   
   is joined to a Domain, and IT rules your life and you can't do anything.   
      
   One of the guys at my work got promoted to entry level manager.   
   And he was a "nothing gets in MY way" kind of guy :-) So one   
   evening, he is miffed that a workstation move with IT is   
   taking so long (it's scheduled). We try to explain to him   
   how everything in the building has shackles on it, but he   
   doesn't believe it. So we take a trolley, put the computer   
   on it, and walk to another area to attempt to plug it in.   
   And of course nothing works, there are MAC filters on the   
   router box and so on. Computer goes back on cart and back   
   to origin. Even when you're a "nothing gets in MY way" guy,   
   yes, IT will get in your way. We even tested this. And yes,   
   the experiments prove IT are in control. This is roughly   
   the equivalent of launching a steam powered rocket with you   
   inside it, in an attempt to prove the Earth is flat. One   
   of the reasons we hung out with the guy, was to watch   
   an unstoppable force, meet an immovable object.   
      
      Paul   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)