Exactly, Matt, however, I've found that internal drives connected to the motherboard retain their settings (unless of course you re-install the O/S, in which case the re-installed O/S wouldn't know what your previous settings are.

BTW, I standardize my drive letters as follows:

C: - Boot drive with O/S and standard installed applications (C:\Program Files or C:\Program Files(x86)), and where I can specify alternate locations for support files, I do so to minimize the size of C: (makes re-installing from an image take less time).

D: - Apps that don't go under C:\Program Files or C:\Program Files (x86); I have a folder called D:\Apps. This is where all my PGMusic apps and other non-standard installed apps go. I also have a folder called D:\AppsData, which includes all my sound libraries, VST files, my RealTracks/RealDrums, other application support files, etc.

E: - All my created content goes here. I have a folder structure set up for various categories of files, to include my music files.

F: - my ripped MP3 files. When I rip CD's or digitize my record albums, I create two versions of MP3 files. The F:\MP3-LoFi folder contains the songs ripped at 128 kbps; the F:\MP3-HiFi folder contains the songs ripped at 320 kpbs. The 128 files go on my iPod Classic (160GB; although I really need a 250GB ultimately, which won't happen since they don't make it anymore). The 320 files are for listening while at home through the better speakers. I currently have about 35,000 songs under each folder (on my way to about 55,000 once I finish with all my record albums).

G: - my CD/DVD/Bluray drive

H: - my first virtual CD drive \__ Nero lets you create audio CD
I: - my second virtual CD drive / images, that I mount and play

J: - the drive letter usually picked up by any new external USB drive I connect to my computer.

K: - external USB drive, that when mounted, is my BacKup drive, containing data backups and drive image backups. Only connected when needed.

S: - external USB drive, that when mounted, is my Software InStall drive. I have all my software, license files, login information, software tracking spreadsheet, loaded on this drive. I keep it up to date, and so I never have to do the CD shuffle or worry about where the latest patch is.

I use this configuration on both my laptop and my desktop and have for probably the last 10 years. I also have a private network setup with a router between the two computers (using 10.10.10.x IP range). This lets me work easily between the two computers, but lets each one keep its own wireless connectivity without bridging the networks together. For this, I map network drives between the two computers:

P: - the C: drive on the other computer
Q: - the D: drive on the other computer
R: - the E: drive on the other computer
S: - if mounted, the USB S: drive (see above) on the other computer. One will have the physical drive, the other will have the mapped drive, but both computers can see and use the same content.
T: - the F: drive on the other computer.

Each computer does the same drive mappings (in fact, I do it with a batch file that lets me turn them on or off).

Okay, now that I've completely hijacked this thread on a different tangent, back to the Build 435 problem...

John

Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 2x2TB, 1x4TB SSD
Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 2x1.5TB, 2x2TB, 1x4TB SATA

BB2024/UMC404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/MixBus/Notion/Finale/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK

http://www.sus4chord.com