Q I've just added a new 12GB EIDE hard drive with two partitions, C: for Windows and E: for applications. My old 1GB EIDE drive is now D: and my CD-ROM drive is now designated as the F: drive. Is there any way I can return the CD-ROM drive to its old designation of D:?

A Unfortunately, no. Windows assigns drive letters as follows: drives controlled at the BIOS level, including most EIDE hard drives, come first. C: is assigned to the primary partition on the primary master EIDE drive ù usually the drive and partition with Windows. Subsequent letters are then assigned to the primary partition of every other BIOS-controlled drive in the system. In this case, that's your old drive. Once all the primary partitions are assigned, the remaining partitions receive their drive letters. And finally, Windows assigns a letter to each software-controlled device, such as a CD-ROM or Zip drive.