We have all wondered at some point why our hard drive has a letter as a name. We usually leave it at that, but did you know that you can rename your computer’s hard drive ? This is just one of the many advantages that Microsoft Windows offers us.
In case you do not know how to make this modification in your operating system, we will explain it here. In addition, you can do it from different methods in order to give a name to that hard drive partition that you made after formatting the computer.
Index( )
- How to rename a local drive in Windows?
- Change the name from CMD
- From unit properties
- Using the command prompt
- Rename drives using PowerShell
- Why can’t I rename my hard drive and what to do?
How to rename a local drive in Windows?
The easiest way you can apply this change is by following these steps:
- Open the file explorer of your PC.
- You go to the ‘Equipment’ section.
- You select with right click the drive that you have active.
- You go to the bottom of the options.
- You choose to change name.
With these simple steps, you can change the drive letter of your operating system . Note that you can also know the capacity of the hard drive by following these steps. Now, usually this is more than enough to make such a modification.
However, on certain occasions, it is not possible due to some error that the operating system of your computer is presenting. That is why there are the following alternatives.
Change the name from CMD
To make something clear, the CMD is closely tied to the command prompt. As such, the CMD is a kind of shortcut that allows you two things: The first is to enter the command prompt or access customization functions and advanced settings as a user.
That is why as such, you will not be able to change the name of your hard drive with the CMD. If not through access to the command prompt is that you can make this modification. This is one of the reasons why you should understand what Command Prompt is and how to use it.
Luckily, we have explained to you later how you have to do to achieve this change using the CMD and the command prompt.
From unit properties
The steps to follow for this alternative are very similar to what was explained in the first steps. However, a few differences need to be emphasized through the following procedure:
- Run the file explorer
- You go to the Team option
- Right-click on the storage drive
- Now click on Properties
- A new window will appear with different windows.
- You will locate where it says General
- There you can see the total capacity of the hard drive,the space used and the available space.
- Next to the disk icon, you will see the name that has the same.
- Click there and change to whatever name you want.
- Now you proceed to click on Apply and then on accept.
Using the command prompt
We cannot deny the fact that the command prompt is a powerful tool that very few resort to. It is understandable, it is necessary to know which commands to use and what to use them for. Otherwise, some error will come out and in the worst case, you will have to format your PC.
So, to change the name through the CMD, you have to follow these steps:
- Run the command prompt. You can achieve this by pressing Windows +R or typing command prompt in the search engine.
- After it runs, you’re going to type the following command line: label <Drive Letter>:<New Name>
- You press the Enter key and voila, the name of your main hard drive will have been changed.
Rename drives using PowerShell
In order to use this method, you need to have access to the Windows Management Console. Once you have entered it, you are going to type the following command line:
Set-Volume -DriveLetter ‘Letter’ -NewFileSystemLabel ‘New name’
All you have to do is put the name you want where it says ‘new name’ and of course, put the letter or name that your hard drive currently has. There is nothing else to do, this is it. Note that you can do this for all the partitions you have in your operating system. So you can change the letter to each of the drives you have on your computer.
Why can’t I rename my hard drive and what to do?
Sometimes, there are times when it is not possible to change the name of a hard drive under any method , whether it is the main or a secondary one. This can be caused by certain background processes that are running or have not terminated properly.
Added to this is the fact that such a problem can be caused by some computer virus . In fact, this is the most common reason why you cannot get such a modification.
What you can do is rule out possible causes. If you have no idea where to start, we recommend following the list below:
- Perform a diagnostic for viruses and malware.
- Check processes running in the background
- Close apps you’re not using
- Terminate processes that have not been terminated.
- Disconnect storage devicesand external elements that may be creating interference and problems.
- Reboot the system and try again.
- Activate and deactivate the antivirusthat you have on your computer.