External drive recognition?

kirk · August 22, 2018, 04:17:59 PM

Is there a way IMatch would recognise a specific usb drive connected to a pc by not some random letter Windows switches sometimes but rather something steady constant like drive model, serial number or something.

I am a bit tired of re-appointing folders to a new drive letters. It turns my base into a mess.

Not sure , perhaps it's not iMatch problem at all and rather something I have to do in Windows itself?

Would appreciate any idea how to make external usb drives fixed with a certain letter. Although I have so many already I am not sure I have enough alphabet for them.

ps. I am trying to assign letters from the end of alphabet still Windows tends to switch them ones or two times per year nevertheless. It ends up with a puzzle to figure out on what exact usb drive certain files are

Carlo Didier · August 22, 2018, 04:50:28 PM

Hmm, normally, once you have manually assigned a certain drive letter to a USB disk, Windows will attribute the same letter from then on, provided it is free.

Mario · August 22, 2018, 06:45:23 PM

Windows file access works via drive letters or UNC. IMatch does not 'work around' the Windows file system.

Just assign a fixed drive letter to your external USB drive:

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-assign-permanent-drive-letter-windows-10

kirk · August 22, 2018, 09:29:43 PM

Thanks guys. The problem is Windows seems doesn't track what letters have been already occupied if corresponding drives are offline. So it doesn't hesitate offering same letter for a new one. Sooner or later it turns into a mess especially when you have a big stack of external HDD already.
Then next time Windows needs to be re-installed (it happens once a year in my experience) all the letters are no more valid any more. I love how in MacOS any external drive has just its own name without all those letters.

Mario · August 23, 2018, 08:57:45 AM

Having more than an handful of external drives is rather uncommon, I guess.
One or two external disks, maybe a stick or two. A smart phone or two, mounted as disks. And there are plenty of fixed drive letters to choose from for that batch.
For larger storage requirements, a separate NAS box is the more typical route these days.

kirk · August 23, 2018, 12:38:25 PM

Well, I accustomed just to buy a new external usb HDD to keep my photos and backups every time free space is scarce on my pc. Years ago it was DVD discs. Doubt it's very uncommon.
It saves you from a puzzle of setting up network access in Windows and since those disks are mostly offline resting on my shelves it's a safe way to keep them away from all those ransomwares lurking around.

loweskid · August 23, 2018, 03:28:05 PM

I'm not sure if this would solve your problem but have you thought of using an external hard drive docking hub such as this - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cable-Matters-Docking-Station-Support/dp/B0099TX7O4

I have one of these and it always stays at Drive K on my system regardless of which drive I insert. I don't use it with IMatch but I assume IMatch would recognise a change of disk just as it does with CD/DVDs?

Carlo Didier · August 24, 2018, 09:10:28 AM

Quote from: kirk on August 23, 2018, 12:38:25 PM
Well, I accustomed just to buy a new external usb HDD to keep my photos and backups every time free space is scarce on my pc. Years ago it was DVD discs. Doubt it's very uncommon.
It saves you from a puzzle of setting up network access in Windows and since those disks are mostly offline resting on my shelves it's a safe way to keep them away from all those ransomwares lurking around.

Note that HDDs also age. I always have only one pair (two copies of the same data!) of external disks for backup with enough space for everything.One is at home, one at my office at work (very important to have a copy outside of your house! There's thieves, fires, natural disasters, etc).

When they're filling up, I copy everything to larger ones and put the old ones away as sort of an archive.

Besides that, I have online backups directly from my NAS and a copy of the most important stuff on a local disk ...

Jingo · August 24, 2018, 02:13:54 PM

Quote from: Carlo Didier on August 24, 2018, 09:10:28 AM
Quote from: kirk on August 23, 2018, 12:38:25 PM
Well, I accustomed just to buy a new external usb HDD to keep my photos and backups every time free space is scarce on my pc. Years ago it was DVD discs. Doubt it's very uncommon.
It saves you from a puzzle of setting up network access in Windows and since those disks are mostly offline resting on my shelves it's a safe way to keep them away from all those ransomwares lurking around.

Note that HDDs also age. I always have only one pair (two copies of the same data!) of external disks for backup with enough space for everything.One is at home, one at my office at work (very important to have a copy outside of your house! There's thieves, fires, natural disasters, etc).

When they're filling up, I copy everything to larger ones and put the old ones away as sort of an archive.

Besides that, I have online backups directly from my NAS and a copy of the most important stuff on a local disk ...

We have the same backup strategy... been working well for me for over 15 years... must admit luckily I have only had 1 hard drive failure in all that time... but was easy to recreate from backup/clone drive...

Carlo Didier · August 24, 2018, 02:36:10 PM

Quote from: Jingo on August 24, 2018, 02:13:54 PM
We have the same backup strategy... been working well for me for over 15 years... must admit luckily I have only had 1 hard drive failure in all that time... but was easy to recreate from backup/clone drive...

I had several hard drives fail over the years (at home, many more at work of course). Luckily never lost any significant or important data because I always had good backups.

kirk · August 26, 2018, 03:36:58 PM

Quote from: loweskid on August 23, 2018, 03:28:05 PM
I'm not sure if this would solve your problem but have you thought of using an external hard drive docking hub such as this - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cable-Matters-Docking-Station-Support/dp/B0099TX7O4

Would it recognize a disk change? I doubt it. Wonder if having a root level folder manually named /Samsung 4 Tb/ for example make it an easy substitution?

loweskid · August 26, 2018, 04:21:02 PM

Quote from: kirk on August 26, 2018, 03:36:58 PM
Quote from: loweskid on August 23, 2018, 03:28:05 PM
I'm not sure if this would solve your problem but have you thought of using an external hard drive docking hub such as this - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cable-Matters-Docking-Station-Support/dp/B0099TX7O4

Would it recognize a disk change? I doubt it. Wonder if having a root level folder manually named /Samsung 4 Tb/ for example make it an easy substitution?

Actually, I was talking rubbish - the drive letter does change with a change of disk, so ignore what I said earlier. Apologies - too much beer I think....

Mario · August 26, 2018, 06:48:43 PM

Quote from: kirk on August 26, 2018, 03:36:58 PM
Would it recognize a disk change? I doubt it. Wonder if having a root level folder manually named /Samsung 4 Tb/ for example make it an easy substitution?

IMatch recognizes media (disks) by their unique serial number. This allows it to deal with different media in the same drive (CD, DVD, BR-D, archive systems).

kirk · August 27, 2018, 05:40:05 PM

Quote from: Mario on August 26, 2018, 06:48:43 PM
IMatch recognizes media (disks) by their unique serial number. This allows it to deal with different media in the same drive (CD, DVD, BR-D, archive systems).

Quote from: loweskid on August 26, 2018, 04:21:02 PM
Actually, I was talking rubbish - the drive letter does change with a change of disk, so ignore what I said earlier.

Now I am bit confused . Would this doc station be a single drive letter with a changeable media or same as many different external usb HDD having it's own letters?

BTW, do somebody have experience with huge 10-12 Tb HDDs. Wonder if it's a good idea t keep years of my work on just a few of such disks.

Jingo · August 27, 2018, 05:52:29 PM

Quote from: kirk on August 27, 2018, 05:40:05 PM

BTW, do somebody have experience with huge 10-12 Tb HDDs. Wonder if it's a good idea t keep years of my work on just a few of such disks.

Hard Drives are pretty reliable in modern days... and I have several in the 6-8TB range in my system. I try to partition these into smaller chunks for maintenance purposes (defrags, etc) and can expand / contract them as needed using partition software. In general, when the need for more storage arises, I tend to let price drive my decision.. 2 6TB drives can cost less than a single 12TB drive (case in point... 2 8TB seagate drives right now cost $20 more than a single 12TB seagate drive).

Mario · August 27, 2018, 06:13:00 PM

If you need that amount of storage, NAS with RAID is probably the way to go. A NAS makes its entire storage capacity available via one single UNC; although you may be able to split it into several partitions if you have the need for such a thing. There are NAS devices for home/studio from 2 to 8 bays, which gives you a lot of options and storage space. Individual disks are cheaper, though.

Dealing with shelves full of individual hard disks is probably not something many people do these days. You will only notice a dead drive when you attach it the next time, you need to keep each disk at least twice for backup purpose, you need to copy over files at regular intervals to avoid bitrot and all that...

loweskid · August 27, 2018, 06:19:22 PM

QuoteNow I am bit confused . Would this doc station be a single drive letter with a changeable media or same as many different external usb HDD having it's own letters?

Apologies once again for the confusion. I thought that the hub was still recognised by Windows even when there was no disk inserted but I was wrong - it just sees a disk when it's plugged in and allocates a drive letter as normal. So yes, it's the same as many different external usb HDD having their own letters. The hub just provides the convenience and cost saving of using bare hard drives without fancy enclosures.