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I am using 3 different USB HDDs of the same model for regular backups with Acronis. This software wants me to set up a target path for the backup files, so I depend on my external HDDs to always have the same drive letter (E:), otherwise it will fail.

Now, I usually only have one HDD at a time plugged in and I set up the drive letters for each device to E: in the Device Manager. Every HDD gets automatically assigned the letter E: when I plug it in.

This works, but only if I strictly take care that never more than one of those three devices is connected at the same time. If I e.g. connect all three devices to check and compare the backups and delete old ones, the first device I plug in gets assigned to E:, the second to F: and the third to G:. This would be ok and can't be different, of course, but afterwards, when I disconnect all of them and plug in a single device to run my backup, it keeps its reassigned letter (E: F: or G:) instead of switching back to E:.

My question is: How can I tell Windows to assign a device a specific letter whenever possible (if the letter is currently not occupied by another device, but again if the letter is free the next time I connect it)?

Note that for the backup, I need exactly the same drive letter and directory structure (--> same backup target directory address) on all three devices!

From OPs comment:

This is not a duplicate of the question as it has been closed. It's just the opposite. The other questions asks is like "How can I make my red USB key always be drive D: and my blue USB key always be drive E:?" This question is like "How can I make sure that no matter which of red, blue, or green external USB backup drives I connect that it will always be drive D: when possible?"

DavidPostill
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Byte Commander
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  • You could write a script that looks for the device ID and re-assign it if the letter is available. Alternatively... look into creating a RAID (mirror) array so all your disks are used at the same time.... we used to do this (not using Acronis) and it was just a complete nightmare... – Kinnectus May 22 '15 at 13:01
  • @BigChris - Which method was a complete nightmare exactly? – Ramhound May 22 '15 at 13:15
  • Yeah, I just re-read that and thought how confusing it would seem! The swapping out of USB hard disks was a nightmare because of the having to keep changing drive letter... we ultimately changed to a RAID. – Kinnectus May 22 '15 at 13:16
  • @BigChris I want to stay with those 3 HDDs I use alternating to always keep one at a secure place etc... Actually I can't decide because it is not my own computer but an office computer I maintain. So RAID is not an option, I'm afraid. – Byte Commander May 22 '15 at 13:41
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    This is not a duplicate of the question as it has been closed. It's just the opposite. The other questions asks is like "How can I make my red USB key always be drive D: and my blue USB key always be drive E:?" This question is like "How can I make sure that no matter which of red, blue, or green external USB backup drives I connect that it will always be drive D: when possible?" – hippietrail Aug 19 '16 at 07:41

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