Hey all, I tried searching for this but couldn't find what I needed.

I'd installed a second hard drive F: which died on me.  I removed the hard drive but did not reconfigure the system.

I think that screwed something up.  Everytime I try to download programs onto my C: drive, my system says it can't find F: drive.  

How do I delete F: from the DOS (or whatever) so I can download programs onto my computer.

The computer is a 6/7 year old Dell DIMENSION 4100 with Windows XP installed.  866MHZ

[size=18]Oct 23rd -FIXED !!![/size]I found this in windows help files...

To assign, change, or remove a drive letter
Using the Windows interface

Open Computer Management (Local).
In the console tree, click Disk Management.
Where?

Computer Management (Local)
Storage
Disk Management
 
Right-click a partition, logical drive, or VOLUME, and then click Change Drive Letter and Paths.
Do ONE of the following:
To assign a drive letter, click Add, click the drive letter you want to use, and then click OK.
To modify a drive letter, click it, click Change, click the drive letter you want to use, and then click OK.
To remove a drive letter, click it, and then click Remove.
 Important

Be careful when making drive-letter assignments because many MS-DOS and Windows programs make references to a specific drive letter. For example, the path environment variable shows specific drive letters in conjunction with program names.
 Notes

To open Computer Management, click Start, and then click Control Panel. Double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management.
You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the Administrators group in order to complete this procedure. If your computer is connected to a network, network policy settings might also prevent you from completing this procedure.
A computer can use up to 26 drive letters. Drive letters A and B are reserved for floppy disk drives, but you can assign these letters to removable drives if the computer does not have a floppy disk drive. Hard disk drives in the computer receive letters C through Z, while mapped network drives are assigned drive letters in reverse order (Z through B).
You cannot change the drive letter of the system volume or boot volume.
An error message may appear when you attempt to assign a letter to a volume, CD-ROM drive, or other removable media DEVICE, possibly because it is in use by a program in the system. If this happens, close the program accessing the volume or drive, and then click the Change Drive Letter and Paths command again.
Windows 2000 and Windows XP allow the static assignment of drive letters on volumes, partitions, and CD-ROM drives. This means that you permanently assign a drive letter to a specific partition, volume, or CD-ROM drive. When you add a new hard disk to an existing computer system, it will not affect statically assigned drive letters.
You can also mount a local drive at an empty folder on an NTFS volume using a drive path instead of a drive letter.Go to the BIOS setup screen (F2 during boot) and turn off the second hard drive option. I am sure it is still set to AUTO.  I tried both of your suggestions and it still says "Invalid drive F:\ " when trying to install a program.

BTW, when I went to computer management, it only listed my C drive.  When I went to the boot menu, I disabled what appeared to be the second hard drive.  

Is the problem existant within the NET BIOS or something?...like permanently attached to my system?

Any othe suggestions?  I really appreciate all your help!So this is ONLY with downloads? If so what are you using to download with? Quote

So this is ONLY with downloads? If so what are you using to download with?

Remove it from the Device Manager.

Quote

Remove it from the Device Manager.

I'd already tried as the other member also mentioned, but the F: isn't even on the list.

Quote

Quote

Remove it from the Device Manager.

I'd already tried as the other member also mentioned, but the F: isn't even on the list.

That's because it's hidden.

How to uncover hidden devices in Device Manager

Read thoroughly.

Try this:

1. Click Start, and then click Run. The Run dialog box opens.

2. In the Open field, type regedit and then click OK. The Registry Editor opens.

3. In the Registry Editor, locate the following registry key:

Code: [Select]HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders  
4. In the right pane, note the values in the Data column of each entry.
    If any value contains a drive that is not correct for your computer, right-click the entry and select Modify.
  
5. Type the correct drive letter in the Value data field, and then click OK. For example, if one of the values is
"F:\WINDOWS\Fonts", the drive letter should be changed to a valid drive on the system, such as “C:\WINDOWS\Fonts".
  
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for each entry whose Data value contains an incorrect drive.
  
7. Repeat steps 3 through 6 for each of the following registry keys as well:

Code: [Select]HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders
8. Close the Registry Editor, Reboot

Thank you ALL so much !!!

Glad you are back to normal, Nice Work jph...