[Cunjo]

Okay, first off, a mad props and hearty congratulations to whoever gets this one...

The environment is as follows:
HARDWARE
Gateway 400VTX Laptop; Intel Pentium 4 ACPI "Willamette" CPU @ 1.18/2.20 GHz; 512 MB DDR SDRAM with 10MB shared video memory (502MB total RAM); Intel 82852/82855 GM/GME Graphics Controller; Internal 37 GB HDD - 20 GB partitioned to Windows in NTFS and 17 GB to Linux; Internal Slimtype DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo drive; two flash memory card slots; Avaya(Orinoco) Classic Gold Wireless card; external powered USB 2.0 hub with following peripherals: Microsoft optical USB mouse, Saitek X52 FCS, Maxtor 190 GB USB HDD, HP Officejet 4215 printer/scanner/fax, HP dvd740 Lightscribe DVD+-R/RW drive.
SOFTWARE (running, startup, with shell-integration)
Windows XP Home Edition: Service Pack 1; Kerio Personal Firewall, Avast! Antivirus, Trillian, SuperRAMBooster, Windowsblinds, Firefox, Spywareblaster, WinBar, WinRAR, VLC, Windows Mediaplayer, Nero, Stuffit.
NETWORK
Microsoft MN-500 Wireless base station, Westell DSL modem, Verizon ADSL.

THE ISSUE:
I just recently installed the HP dvd740 external DVD+-R/RW drive along with Nero 6. After rebooting my computer, the drive letters had changed around, and the formerly E: and F: flash memory drives, as well as the G: external 190GB HDD had been displaced to F:, G: and I: respectively by the addition of a non-existant CD-ROM drive (E:) and the new DVD+-R/RW drive (H:). The non-existant CD-ROM drive disappeared after the next reboot, but the drive designations down the line remained. The end result and ultimately the issue is that the 190 GB HDD (formerly G:) has been relabeled the I: drive, breaking all application references to files on the G:\* path, and ultimately invalidating my entire media library (all the 10,000+ media files are stored on the 190GB HDD, and mediaplayer references all of its library information such as rating and playcount - used to build my dynamic playlists - to the G:\* path. This reference AFAIK can not be re-assigned to the same relative path on the I:\ drive, and therefore is lost.) I can not simply re-rate all 10,000+ files and rebuild my library, and even if I could, playcount data would be lost forever, and there would be no garuntee that some whacky drive switch wouldn't occur again, thereby messing it up all over again and sending me back to square 1.

WHAT I HAVE TRIED:
1) I tried unplugging the DVD+-R/RW drive and rebooting with just the external HDD attached. Result: No Dice - the HDD still maintains the drive letter I:, with E: and H: empty, and the flash memory card slots still occupying F: and G:.
2) I tried going into the Computer management panel, located in the administrative tools section of the control panel, and opening the Disk Management utility. Result: No Dice - See More Issues

ERGO, MORE ISSUES:
Upon attempting to open the Disk Management utility, I get the this critical stop error, which reads "Server execution failed", and the computer management panel's bottom bar reads "Unable to connect to logical disk manager service"

WHAT I HAVE TRIED:
3) going into the services panel and setting Logical Disk Manager (LDM) to 'Automatic', then rebooting. Result: No Dice - same error as before.
4) Manually restarting the LDM and LDMAS. Result: No Dice - same error as before.
5) Searching the System event viewer for clues. Result: Undetermined - I found the following critical entries, but don't know what to make of them or how to fix them:

event viewer says:
[20:47:52] The following boot-start or system-start driver(s) failed to load:
IntelIde
[20:55:09] The server {D485DDC0-49C6-11D1-8E56-00A0C92C9D5D} did not register with DCOM within the required timeout. (this occurs a number of times throughout my attempts)

So now I'm stuck... I don't know what to do. What I do know, is that I need to re-assign the drive letters so that the 190GB HDD is once again G:\, or I need to find a way to re-attach the media library information to the files on the I:\* path.

Until then, I am without music (since trying to play it from I:\ regardless of the drive mix up would nuke my existing library completely), and without music I am very sad... I have nothing left but alcohol. So please, please help me get this straightened out.

Thanks in advance.

[Silent_Joka]

Try disabling Kerio Personal Firewall, then try to open your disk management.

[Cunjo]

Originally posted by Silent_Joka
Try disabling Kerio Personal Firewall, then try to open your disk management.

I did try that already, the second time I reloaded the LDM services and attempted to open the utility. I also disabled Avast!, but with no success.

[Cunjo]

Ok, I resolved the issue... or at least found a way around it.

By booting into Safe Mode with Networking, I was able to access the Logical Disk Manager conventionally and re-assign the drive letters. While I still have been unable to get the LDM to operate out of safe mode, this workaround is acceptable for me since it is not necessary for me to frequently change around drive letters on-the-fly.

If anyone knows a way of _fixing_ the LDM service so it works out of safe mode however, I would still like ot hear it (and so, possibly, would anyone else coming across this topic looking for answers) - I don't particularily like the feeling of limping along on a broken platform.