[tanzam75]

> Under Windows, including the most recent versions, you can get repeatable results for procedures that involve peripherals only if you disconnect them all, then reconnect them in the same order each and every time. Why? Drive letters.

So don't use drive letters.

Mount each volume in its own separate NTFS folder. Now you'll get repeatable results no matter what order you plug them in.

[Jtsummers]

As someone very unfamiliar with Windows administration anymore, how would you do this without invoking 3rd party tools?

Found MS's description [1]. However, that's not useable by most office workers, and the steps are likely beyond the average home user. So it's really just a feature for power users and IT departments.

[1] http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753321.aspx

[jon-wood]

Who are probably the only people it matters to, so I'm not sure it's worth getting too worried about.

[Jtsummers]

Eh, I use Linux and OS X at home. I only use Windows at work so it doesn't bother me (but I do get annoyed a bit when drives don't get mounted to the same letter, even when it's the next available one). That said, it would have saved me a lot of heartache a few years back dealing with some testing tools that liked to hardcode paths and threw a fit when things didn't line up correctly.