Why isn't it A or B but the main drive partition named C?

Buzz

From ancient times till now, when using Windows, you must be familiar with the name of the most important drive partition - drive C. It has become so familiar that we have 'forgotten' to question why it's called C. Where did A, B go? Did Microsoft place drive C to 'stand out' or is there a deeper intention?

Clearly, after drive C, if there are additional partitions, they will always be named D, E, F,... So why start with the letter C? That curiosity is just like why is the second brother called the second brother instead of the first? Clearly, the letter C does not represent the (C)entral drive.

The name of partition C is set according to ancient tradition.

Before the era of SSDs and HDDs or CD, DVD drives,... The floppy disk drive used to be the king in the storage field, mainly because of its very cheap price. Meanwhile, PCs back then were not equipped with built-in hard drives like today, forcing users to buy external ones themselves.

Amidst the choice between expensive hard drives, most users would opt for floppy disks to install on their computers. Typically, there would be at least 2 floppy disk drive slots on old computers, one floppy drive containing about 1.44 MB, and 2 drives containing 2.88 MB, just 'enough' for the popular MS-DOS operating system at that time.

Installing two floppy disks leads to the task of naming them for differentiation. The first drive, typically the primary one, gets named drive A, while the second drive, if installed, is called drive B. When a hard drive is installed, it gets labeled as drive C. At that time, hard drives weren't very common, costing nearly 5000 USD (probably over ten thousand USD by now) for a Morrow Design 26 MB hard drive, so people stuck with the 'soft' floppy disks.

Old-time hard drives were as valuable as a fortune

By now, you might also have wondered why the label 'C drive' sticks, right? From MS-DOS, Microsoft has kept the naming convention similar on the latest Windows 11.

Even though floppy disks have 'faded away' from regular computers, with their capacity not even matching a single photo nowadays, the company still maintains that naming convention. Perhaps it's a way to 'commemorate' floppy drives, or maybe Microsoft is just too lazy to change the name, or there are still many organizations (such as NASA) still utilizing floppy drives for security reasons.

Actually, optical drives are also 'fading away' in a similar manner

Similar to drive C, drive D back 'in the day' was mainly used to refer to the optical drive for reading data from discs. But then, you see, discs are now only common on console systems like PS5 and Xbox One, as for personal computers, they've already 'fizzled out'.

However, unlike partitions A and B when they've been used for floppy disks, they'll never default to labels for other types of memory. Drive D now defaults to being a secondary hard drive partition, a bit inconvenient for DVD drives but convenient for users as the order remains C, D, E,...

Don't be foolish to rename the drive order

If you have OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), seeking perfection where the first drive must be drive A instead of drive C as Microsoft intends, then stay calm and get used to it, or you'll regret it.

When renaming the drive order, for instance, changing C to A, the paths of programs installed on that drive will get 'lost', meaning they won't recognize the path signals. For example, during installation, the installation path for software will be C:Program Files, when renaming the drive to A, this path will become ineffective, leading to many software errors, even system errors, so I advise you not to change the labels.

In the future, will the drive order be 'wiped out'?

Current memory is divided into many categories, HDDs, SSDs, cloud storage, external memory,... Naming in sequence in the context of many storage types that are increasingly developing vigorously could confuse users.

So how to reduce confusion? Not naming them A, B, C, D,... will no longer cause confusion. Instead, default names allow users to freely change as desired. Similarly on MacOS with the default name Macintosh HD, there's no alphabetical order. Users don't have to wonder, don't have to uncomfortably change drive labels only to encounter errors.

The story of naming hard drives is similar to why it's QWERTY instead of ABCDE. Some things have unintentionally become 'rules' in development, and if it doesn't affect anything, we still keep it. The C drive partition is no exception, if the company likes to keep C, then just keep it.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why is the primary drive on Windows named C instead of A?

The primary drive in Windows is named C because, historically, A and B were reserved for floppy disk drives. When hard drives became common, they were assigned the letter C, continuing a tradition established during the early days of computing.

What historical significance does the naming of drive C hold?

Drive C's name has historical significance rooted in the era of floppy disks. In the past, two floppy drives were typically labeled A and B. With the introduction of hard drives, the next available letter was C, which has persisted in modern Windows systems.

Is it advisable to rename the C drive to another letter?

No, renaming the C drive to another letter can cause significant issues. Many software programs rely on the default C: drive path for installation and operation, and changing it could lead to errors and system malfunctions.

How has the naming convention for drives evolved in modern operating systems?

The naming convention for drives in modern operating systems has largely remained consistent, with C for the primary hard drive. However, as technology advances and storage types diversify, some systems may adopt more flexible naming practices to reduce confusion among users.

Are floppy disks still relevant in today's computing environment?

No, floppy disks are no longer relevant in today's computing environment. Their limited storage capacity and slow access times have been surpassed by modern storage solutions, such as SSDs and cloud storage, which offer significantly higher performance and reliability.

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