DoubleSpace Err Msg: "There Are No More Drive Letters" (93582)



The information in this article applies to:
    Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 6.0

This article was previously published under Q93582

SYMPTOMS

You receive the following error message:

There are no more drive letters reserved for dblspace to use.
To add more, use the options selection from the tools menu.

CAUSE

This error occurs when there are not enough drive letters available to DoubleSpace, your DBLSPACE.INI file is missing or corrupted, or you have not installed DoubleSpace on your hard disk and you are trying to mount a compressed floppy disk.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, follow the appropriate procedure below.

DoubleSpace Does Not Have Enough Drive Letters Available

If there are no drive letters available for DoubleSpace to mount a drive, use the following procedure to increase the "Last drive reserved for DoubleSpace's use" setting.

    To run DoubleSpace, type dblspace at the command prompt.
    From the Tools menu, choose Options.
    Increase your "Last drive reserved for DoubleSpace's use" setting by at least one letter.

    NOTE: This procedure causes the host drive letter to change. If your Windows permanent swap file is located on that host drive, when you start Windows, you will receive an error message indicating that your permanent swap file is corrupted. To correct this problem, run Control Panel and reconfigure your permanent swap file for the new host drive.

Your DBLSPACE.INI file Is Missing or Corrupted

Create a C:\DBLSPACE.INI file (where C is your startup disk) with a text editor such as MS-DOS Editor. The DBLSPACE.INI file should contain the following two lines:
   MaxRemovableDrives=2
   LastDrive=F
Your drive should now mount normally with a DBLSPACE /MOUNT command. For more information on this command, type help dblspace /mount at the MS-DOS command prompt and then press ENTER.

NOTE: LastDrive= must be set to one letter beyond your last logical drive letter. For example, if your last drive is E, use LastDrive=F in your DBLSPACE.INI file.

You Are Attempting to Mount a Compressed Floppy Disk

To work around this problem, create a very small new DoubleSpace drive and then delete it. This creates the DBLSPACE.INI file and loads DBLSPACE.BIN into memory so you can read the compressed floppy disk.

To do this:

    Type dblspace at the MS-DOS command prompt.
    Choose Custom Setup
    Choose Create A New Empty Compressed Drive.
    Select a drive you want to use.
    When you are prompted for the amount of free space to leave on the drive, type a number larger than your hard disk drive.
    After DoubleSpace tells you the maximum amount free space you can leave on your drive, type in that number. For example, if DoubleSpace tells you the maximum amount of free space is 95.55 megabytes (MB), leave 95 MB of free space.
    Choose Continue.
    Press the C key to create the compressed drive.
You can now mount the compressed floppy disk. If you do not want to keep the DoubleSpace drive you created, type the following command at the MS-DOS command prompt and restart your computer:

deltree /y dblspace.001

As an alternative, you can also use the following procedure to create a DBLSPACE.INI file and load DBLSPACE.BIN in memory:

    Create a C:\DBLSPACE.INI file (where C is your startup disk) with a text editor such as MS-DOS Editor. The DBLSPACE.INI file should contain the following two lines:
          MaxRemovableDrives=2
          LastDrive=F
    
    NOTE: LastDrive= must be set to one letter beyond your last logical drive letter. For example, if your last drive is E, use LastDrive=F in your DBLSPACE.INI file.
    Copy DBLSPACE.BIN from your DOS directory to the root directory of your startup (boot) drive. For example:
          copy c:\dos\dblspace.bin c:\
    

    Restart your computer.
    You can now mount the compressed disk in your floppy drive. For example, if the disk is in drive A, type the following at the command prompt:

    dblspace /mount a:


Modification Type: Major Last Reviewed: 11/19/1999
Keywords: KB93582