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Disk Management: Why does my second hard drive, (SSD) display as Disk 2 instead of Disk 1?

Anonymous
2020-11-02T05:21:00+00:00

My (3) hard drives first appeared as the following,

Disk 0 = 6TB WD

Disk 1 = 2TB Samsung SSD

Disk 2 = 512GB Samsung M.2

I am on a mission for,

Disk 0 = 512GB Samsung M.2 (C: Windows/Programs)

Disk 1 = 2TB Samsung SSD (D: Games)

Disk 2 = 6TB WD (E: Documents/Music/Pictures/Video)

I recently, unplugged the sata cables from the 2TB Samsung SSD, the 6TB WD and reinstalled Windows 10 using the media creation tool, USB. After the Windows 10 installation, my 512 Samsung M.2 changed to Disk 0 in Disk Management. Which is great, that is what I wanted. Then, I shut down, plugged in the sata cable to my 2TB Samsung SSD, powered on and went to Disk Management. To my surprise, the 2TB Samsung SSD displayed as Disk 2. Why is this and why did it skip Disk 1? Meaning, I have no Disk 1, only Disk 0 and Disk 2. I don't even want to present my 6TB WD to Windows 10 until I get my 2TB Samsung SSD to display as Disk 1. Any replies such as, it doesn't matter or effect the performance on how the drives are numbered would be unhelpful. Also, the sata ports on the motherboard have nothing to do with how the disks are numbered in Disk Management. I am proof of this and it has been proven before. I assumed the disks are numbered in the order presented to Windows, which makes the most logical sense. Although, that doesn't seem to be the case either.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Settings

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-11-03T03:58:57+00:00

    As I already mentioned, your reply was unhelpful. Please respect my question.

    1 person found this answer helpful.
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  2. Anonymous
    2020-11-03T04:57:51+00:00

    My mistake here is an updated picture. I changed the sata port connection for the 2TB Samsung SSD, powered on and now the numbering has changed. My 512GB M.2 became disk #1 and my 2TB SSD became disk #0. I managed to display disk 0 and disk 1, but they are now backwards. I plugged in my other 6TB HDD and displayed disk 2, which is what I want. As of now, I unplugged the 2TB SSD and left the 6TB HDD plugged in. However, the 512GB M.2 still displays as Disk 1. 

    Fist I had no Disk 1, now I have no disk 0! I must be doing something wrong presenting these disks to Windows.

    Actually, the first picture I posted as accurate. It wasn't missing any information. See for yourself.

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-11-03T04:21:35+00:00

    On your picture of Disk Management you have not shown the entire bottom section and what disks are there.

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-11-02T06:26:22+00:00

    I would not worry about how the disks are numbered as long as you know what drive letters have the information that you need.

    If you want to you can change the drive letters other than the C: drive as it is the one with the operating system.  The other drives letters can be on any disk including the disk that has the C:\ as long as there is space.

    When in File Explorer you should see the drives.  Remember that your DVD/CD drives should be at the top of the list after the C:\ drive.  A & B are usually saved for floppy disk drives which is why the operating system is C:.

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