Change floppy drive assignment from B: to A:

I built myself a computer a couple of years ago and have Vista Ultimate on
it. Recently I went to create a floppy disk for maintenance on another
computer and found that the floppy drive (which I haven't used before) is
labeled as the B drive. How do I change that back to A? Right now I am
using
subst a: "b:"
which works for now but would rather set it permanently.

As I recall, we always had to swap the FDD ribbon cable to change the floppy
drive letters.

My current (15 years old!) floppy drive is a combination unit with both 3.5"
and 5.25" drives in a half-height (remember that term?) case with only a
single cable for both drives. But in the olden days we had to use two
cables or a single cable with two physical connectors, usually split with a
few wires twisted between the first and second connectors. If you can't
remember - or can't find a reference - post back and we'll find what you
need.

Since the letter B: was practically never used, I've assigned it to one of
my USB flash drives and use it for B:\Backup of some of my data weekly. I
can use Disk Management to change that letter, but Disk Management doesn't
work for floppy drives. They are hard-wired.

Start Regedit and find:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices.

Under that you will see a \DosDevices\B:
Select the entry and press F2 (or Rt click and choose rename)
Rename to \DosDevices\A: (i.e change the B to an A)
Reboot and you should be good.

As always if you make a mistake in the registry your system could become
unusable so use caution. I would backup that key or at least have a restore
point that you could use.

It is actually very easy.
1. Go to the start menu and search for computer management
2.Click on Computer management
3.Click continue if you have UAC on.
4. In computer management go to storage
5. click on disk management(local)
6.Right click the floppy drive bar and click Change drive letter and path
7. click change
8, select A and hit ok
You have now changed your floppuy drive letter

Did you actually try this?

I've been using Disk Management since Windows 2000 and I don't recall EVER
seeing a FLOPPY drive there.

There isn't a floppy drive in Disk Management on my Vista Ultimate computer
either, which is why I posed the question here!

Have you found a solution yet? Can you tell us about it?

Actaully I haven't rebooted yet - I'm in the middle of a game I don't want
to lose my progress in the level!! Will post when I reboot!

Just a thought here........

Cut and pasted from "Windows Help and Support":

Microsoft Management Console: standard and optional snap-ins
This topic provides you with information about the common administration
and troubleshooting tasks and tools associated with Microsoft Management
Console (MMC) and MMC snap-ins.

Common tasks
Some MMC snap-ins require elevated privileges to function properly.

To open MMC with elevated privileges, click Start, click All Programs,
click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt and then point to Run as
administrator. In the command prompt that opens, type mmc.exe.

Some MMC snap-ins are only available after certain additional features
have been installed.

To install additional features
Open Control Panel and click Programs.

In Installed Programs, click Turn on or off Windows features. If the
User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it
displays is what you want, and then click Continue.

Select the checkboxes for features you want to install. (Clear
checkboxes for features you want to uninstall.)

Click OK.

Useful tools
This section describes the Microsoft Web site downloads and tools
associated with this version of Windows that help you configure and
manage MMC and snap-ins.

Disk Management

Might be worth taking a peek at. :-)
Does your BIOS show a floppy drive connected and enabled?

Have you checked your BIOS settings? Some have a Swap Floppy Drive Letter
option

I finally rebooted - I have an A: drive and no B: drive. Thanks for the
help!