Need help with batch file [RESOLVED]

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[Susan Bradley]

I use a batch file to copy several folders containing data files to a flash drive once a week. The problem is I have to edit the file almost every time I use it because the flash drive letter may have changed from the last time I ran the program. I would like to have the program ask for the correct drive letter and then carry on copying folders to this drive. Thanks for your help.

• This topic was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by Susan Bradley.
• This topic was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by RetiredGeek. Reason: Marked as resolved

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If you go into Computer Management, you can assign a drive letter to that drive. I suggest choosing a letter near the bottom of the alphabet, since it would be unlikely to ever be used otherwise. My flash drive, for instance, is Drive Q every time I plug it in (daily). If for whatever reason that doesn’t work for you, post back and we’ll try Plan B.

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Thanks for that. I’ll give it a try and see what happens. Any reason not to assign B to the flash drive? It’s been a long time since I’ve had a floppy drive with that letter and it’s not likely to be used by anything else.

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See also another approach to react on changing drive letters: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/10147302/batch-file-and-variable-usb-drive-letters/56246725#56246725

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I use a free program called USBDLM (USB Drive Letter Management). It allows you to assign drive letters automatically based on the Volume Serial number of a device. THe VolSer No only changes if you either Reformat the drive or use a program to change it.

I use it to control my 6 different bare hard drives that I use for taking system images with Macrium Reflect. I have it set so any one of the 6 will automatically mount as I: (for Image) whether I mount on any one of my machines with a USB drive dock. Works like a charm.

HTH

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

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Assigning a drive letter to any external drives works very well. Every drive you see in this screen shot shows up with the same drive letter and name every time.

Desktop Asus TUF X299 Mark 1, CPU: Intel Core i7-7820X Skylake-X 8-Core 3.6 GHz, RAM: 32GB, GPU: Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti 4GB. Display: Four 27" 1080p screens 2 over 2 quad.

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for %%x in (g f e d) do if exist %%x:\ident.dat set USBdrive=%%x

ident.dat can be any file you expect to find on your USB.

cheers, Paul

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If you can run the BATch file from the USB flash drive itself, then you can determine dynamically the drive letter plus colon (e.g. F:) from a variable, as follows:

Code:

:: determine the drive letter (plus colon) of the
:: USB drive whereon this BATch file is located
set usb=%~d0
echo %usb%
pause

 

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

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If you want your batch file to prompt for the drive letter like you asked, you can do it this way.

set /p dl=”Enter drive letter: ”

You’d then replace the drive letter in your commands with the variable name %dl% – e.g.

robocopy c:\source %dl%:\target /e

The solutions above might be better though.

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Thanks to all for your suggestions. I found BATcher’s works perfectly for what I’m trying to do, and have implemented it. Thanks again.

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