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From: Le on 7 Mar 2010 22:53


"Le" wrote:

> Thx Bill - did that and G: & Z: are still present based on "fsutil fsinfo
> drives". My Y: drive went away and is presented as just H:. I used Disk
> Manager to change the ID of the H: partition to Y: and I now have H: & Y: for
> it.

Further - I looked at the MountedDevices enty for H: and it look identical
to Y: - deleted it, rebooted, and H: went away. Z: however, has a wildly
different key from G:'s. Would it be reasonable to replace Z:'s with G:'s
then reboot?

>
> "Bill Blanton" wrote:
>
> > There's probably minor corruption in this registry key:
> > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices
> >
> > Assuming you have somewhat of a basic setup, make a restore point and
> > delete that key and reboot. Windows will re-enumerate all drive letters.
> >
> > Note that if you have moved "system objects" such as the paging file or
> > My Documents, or if you have changed the default letter for volumes
> > (including adding or subtracting drives), you may have to redo all or
> > some of that.
> >
> > Depending on your setup, there may be some risk.. Hence the restore
> > point. ;)
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On 3/7/2010 20:14, Le wrote:
> > > G: has never shown up in the Disk Manager but does show up in "fsutil fsinfo
> > > drives". So, no, I found no way to "remove" the drive. I did delete the
> > > device z: in the Disk Manger prior to reformatting.
> > >
> > > Tried dismounting G: via fsutil but no joy.
> > >
> > > "neil" wrote:
> > >
> > >> Did you remove G and Z and then reset as Z again.?
> > >> Neil
> > >> "Le"<Le(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> > >> news:BF3628FC-88EF-4C13-9629-72CF7A0E2E42(a)microsoft.com...
> > >>> I have a drive which has been Z: for eons and has recently had G: assigned
> > >>> as
> > >>> well. I reformatted the drive, added as Z: again and still G: is defined.
> > >>>
> > >>> I'm getting corruption on indices (even though indexing is turned off for
> > >>> the drive as Z:). Ping ponging between chkdsk /f for the two IDs settles
> > >>> down to no errors but then a reboot and it's back...
> > >>>
> > >>> XP Pro, SP3, what else would help the experts?
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> .
> > >>
> >
> > .
> >
From: glee on 8 Mar 2010 00:04
Try this, even though it should do the same thing Bill suggested:

Open a command prompt, and type the following, and hit Enter:
set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1

Next type the following and hit Enter:
start devmgmt.msc

When Device Manager opens, click the View menu> Show Hidden Devices

Expand the Disk Drives category and delete every entry there.
Expand the Storage Volume Shadow Copies category and delete everything
there.
Expand the Storage Volumes category and delete every entry there.
Expand the USB Controllers category and delete every phantom (grayed
out) entry there....all the USB Mass Storage and Unknown Devices.

Assuming the drive letters at issue are attached to the IDE or SATA
controllers, expand the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers category and delete
every entry there.

Close Device Manager and the command prompt window, and reboot. When
Windows starts, it will enumerate your controllers and drives. Reboot
again if prompted.

See if there is any change.
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Oct. 2002 - Sept. 2009
A+
http://dts-l.net/


"Le" <Le(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:ECEBB837-D62A-499D-A30A-FC396272C811(a)microsoft.com...
>
>
> "Le" wrote:
>
>> Thx Bill - did that and G: & Z: are still present based on "fsutil
>> fsinfo
>> drives". My Y: drive went away and is presented as just H:. I used
>> Disk
>> Manager to change the ID of the H: partition to Y: and I now have H:
>> & Y: for
>> it.
>
> Further - I looked at the MountedDevices enty for H: and it look
> identical
> to Y: - deleted it, rebooted, and H: went away. Z: however, has a
> wildly
> different key from G:'s. Would it be reasonable to replace Z:'s with
> G:'s
> then reboot?
>
>>
>> "Bill Blanton" wrote:
>>
>> > There's probably minor corruption in this registry key:
>> > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices
>> >
>> > Assuming you have somewhat of a basic setup, make a restore point
>> > and
>> > delete that key and reboot. Windows will re-enumerate all drive
>> > letters.
>> >
>> > Note that if you have moved "system objects" such as the paging
>> > file or
>> > My Documents, or if you have changed the default letter for volumes
>> > (including adding or subtracting drives), you may have to redo all
>> > or
>> > some of that.
>> >
>> > Depending on your setup, there may be some risk.. Hence the restore
>> > point. ;)
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > On 3/7/2010 20:14, Le wrote:
>> > > G: has never shown up in the Disk Manager but does show up in
>> > > "fsutil fsinfo
>> > > drives". So, no, I found no way to "remove" the drive. I did
>> > > delete the
>> > > device z: in the Disk Manger prior to reformatting.
>> > >
>> > > Tried dismounting G: via fsutil but no joy.
>> > >
>> > > "neil" wrote:
>> > >
>> > >> Did you remove G and Z and then reset as Z again.?
>> > >> Neil
>> > >> "Le"<Le(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> > >> news:BF3628FC-88EF-4C13-9629-72CF7A0E2E42(a)microsoft.com...
>> > >>> I have a drive which has been Z: for eons and has recently had
>> > >>> G: assigned
>> > >>> as
>> > >>> well. I reformatted the drive, added as Z: again and still G:
>> > >>> is defined.
>> > >>>
>> > >>> I'm getting corruption on indices (even though indexing is
>> > >>> turned off for
>> > >>> the drive as Z:). Ping ponging between chkdsk /f for the two
>> > >>> IDs settles
>> > >>> down to no errors but then a reboot and it's back...
>> > >>>
>> > >>> XP Pro, SP3, what else would help the experts?
>> > >>
>> > >>
>> > >> .
>> > >>
>> >
>> > .
>> >

From: John John - MVP on 8 Mar 2010 09:26
Le wrote:
>
> "Le" wrote:
>
>> Thx Bill - did that and G: & Z: are still present based on "fsutil fsinfo
>> drives". My Y: drive went away and is presented as just H:. I used Disk
>> Manager to change the ID of the H: partition to Y: and I now have H: & Y: for
>> it.
>
> Further - I looked at the MountedDevices enty for H: and it look identical
> to Y: - deleted it, rebooted, and H: went away. Z: however, has a wildly
> different key from G:'s. Would it be reasonable to replace Z:'s with G:'s
> then reboot?

Things that I would try:

1- If you have information or partitions that you want to keep on the
disk you can rewrite the disk signature and force Windows to reenumerate
the disk and its partitions. To rewrite the signature boot the computer
with a Windows 98 Startup floppy and issue the FDISK /MBR command
against the disk, this will rewrite the disk signature but it will leave
partitions intact.

2- If you can afford to lose all the information on the disk then you
can force a reinitialization of the disk in several manners, two of them:

A- Download a disk diagnostic utility from the disk manufacturer's site
and have it zero out the first few sectors on the drive, no need to zero
out the whole disk if the utility offers an option to only rewrite the
first sectors but other than take more time it won't hurt to rewrite the
whole disk.

B- Use the Windows built-in Diskpart command line tool and use the Clean
parameter to clear the disk. Be careful with Diskpart, slippy fingers
or a lapse of attention can result in data loss!

John


>> "Bill Blanton" wrote:
>>
>>> There's probably minor corruption in this registry key:
>>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices
>>>
>>> Assuming you have somewhat of a basic setup, make a restore point and
>>> delete that key and reboot. Windows will re-enumerate all drive letters.
>>>
>>> Note that if you have moved "system objects" such as the paging file or
>>> My Documents, or if you have changed the default letter for volumes
>>> (including adding or subtracting drives), you may have to redo all or
>>> some of that.
>>>
>>> Depending on your setup, there may be some risk.. Hence the restore
>>> point. ;)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 3/7/2010 20:14, Le wrote:
>>>> G: has never shown up in the Disk Manager but does show up in "fsutil fsinfo
>>>> drives". So, no, I found no way to "remove" the drive. I did delete the
>>>> device z: in the Disk Manger prior to reformatting.
>>>>
>>>> Tried dismounting G: via fsutil but no joy.
>>>>
>>>> "neil" wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Did you remove G and Z and then reset as Z again.?
>>>>> Neil
>>>>> "Le"<Le(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>>>> news:BF3628FC-88EF-4C13-9629-72CF7A0E2E42(a)microsoft.com...
>>>>>> I have a drive which has been Z: for eons and has recently had G: assigned
>>>>>> as
>>>>>> well. I reformatted the drive, added as Z: again and still G: is defined.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I'm getting corruption on indices (even though indexing is turned off for
>>>>>> the drive as Z:). Ping ponging between chkdsk /f for the two IDs settles
>>>>>> down to no errors but then a reboot and it's back...
>>>>>>
>>>>>> XP Pro, SP3, what else would help the experts?
>>>>>
>>>>> .
>>>>>
>>> .
>>>
From: Le on 8 Mar 2010 13:15
Thx John John. I had already deleted the disk and reformatted it then
restored from a backup. If this didn't accomplish all of what you indicated
please elucidate and I may be able to try it.

Gen & John John:
A couple of observations - the drive is configured as Dynamic. Don't
remember doing anything special to create it this way. It's a single
partition on a Hitachi DeskStar. The reason I point out the latter is that
it showed up in the USB devices as an unknown for a brief while. Curious.

It appears I'm unable to remove all the devices under IDE ATA/ATAPI and Disk
Drives at one time as the GUI requires me to reboot or the device won't be
removed. I can remove the Z: drive's entries but not the C: & Y: drives'
entries.


"John John - MVP" wrote:

> Le wrote:
> >
> > "Le" wrote:
> >
> >> Thx Bill - did that and G: & Z: are still present based on "fsutil fsinfo
> >> drives". My Y: drive went away and is presented as just H:. I used Disk
> >> Manager to change the ID of the H: partition to Y: and I now have H: & Y: for
> >> it.
> >
> > Further - I looked at the MountedDevices enty for H: and it look identical
> > to Y: - deleted it, rebooted, and H: went away. Z: however, has a wildly
> > different key from G:'s. Would it be reasonable to replace Z:'s with G:'s
> > then reboot?
>
> Things that I would try:
>
> 1- If you have information or partitions that you want to keep on the
> disk you can rewrite the disk signature and force Windows to reenumerate
> the disk and its partitions. To rewrite the signature boot the computer
> with a Windows 98 Startup floppy and issue the FDISK /MBR command
> against the disk, this will rewrite the disk signature but it will leave
> partitions intact.
>
> 2- If you can afford to lose all the information on the disk then you
> can force a reinitialization of the disk in several manners, two of them:
>
> A- Download a disk diagnostic utility from the disk manufacturer's site
> and have it zero out the first few sectors on the drive, no need to zero
> out the whole disk if the utility offers an option to only rewrite the
> first sectors but other than take more time it won't hurt to rewrite the
> whole disk.
>
> B- Use the Windows built-in Diskpart command line tool and use the Clean
> parameter to clear the disk. Be careful with Diskpart, slippy fingers
> or a lapse of attention can result in data loss!
>
> John
>
>
> >> "Bill Blanton" wrote:
> >>
> >>> There's probably minor corruption in this registry key:
> >>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices
> >>>
> >>> Assuming you have somewhat of a basic setup, make a restore point and
> >>> delete that key and reboot. Windows will re-enumerate all drive letters.
> >>>
> >>> Note that if you have moved "system objects" such as the paging file or
> >>> My Documents, or if you have changed the default letter for volumes
> >>> (including adding or subtracting drives), you may have to redo all or
> >>> some of that.
> >>>
> >>> Depending on your setup, there may be some risk.. Hence the restore
> >>> point. ;)
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> On 3/7/2010 20:14, Le wrote:
> >>>> G: has never shown up in the Disk Manager but does show up in "fsutil fsinfo
> >>>> drives". So, no, I found no way to "remove" the drive. I did delete the
> >>>> device z: in the Disk Manger prior to reformatting.
> >>>>
> >>>> Tried dismounting G: via fsutil but no joy.
> >>>>
> >>>> "neil" wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>> Did you remove G and Z and then reset as Z again.?
> >>>>> Neil
> >>>>> "Le"<Le(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >>>>> news:BF3628FC-88EF-4C13-9629-72CF7A0E2E42(a)microsoft.com...
> >>>>>> I have a drive which has been Z: for eons and has recently had G: assigned
> >>>>>> as
> >>>>>> well. I reformatted the drive, added as Z: again and still G: is defined.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> I'm getting corruption on indices (even though indexing is turned off for
> >>>>>> the drive as Z:). Ping ponging between chkdsk /f for the two IDs settles
> >>>>>> down to no errors but then a reboot and it's back...
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> XP Pro, SP3, what else would help the experts?
> >>>>>
> >>>>> .
> >>>>>
> >>> .
> >>>
> .
>
From: John John - MVP on 8 Mar 2010 13:38
Le wrote:
> Thx John John. I had already deleted the disk and reformatted it then
> restored from a backup. If this didn't accomplish all of what you indicated
> please elucidate and I may be able to try it.
>
> Gen & John John:
> A couple of observations - the drive is configured as Dynamic. Don't
> remember doing anything special to create it this way. It's a single
> partition on a Hitachi DeskStar. The reason I point out the latter is that
> it showed up in the USB devices as an unknown for a brief while. Curious.
>
> It appears I'm unable to remove all the devices under IDE ATA/ATAPI and Disk
> Drives at one time as the GUI requires me to reboot or the device won't be
> removed. I can remove the Z: drive's entries but not the C: & Y: drives'
> entries.

The drive letters have really nothing to do with the hardware aspect of
the controller and disk and all to do with the disk and partition
signatures and the Mount Manager's database at
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices. You can delete remove all the
controllers and disks in the Device Manager or move the disks about from
one controller to another but the Mount Manager will keep it's drive
letter assignments as long as the disk signatures and partitions remain
the same. Formatting your drive did not touch the disk signature, it
should have removed the assigned letters but it seems that there is a
glitch with the letters assigned to the disk and rewriting the disk
signature or zeroing out the first sector (MBR) should take care of
this. A wholesale purge of the Mount Manager's database will also do
the trick but that is usually a "when all else fails" solution...

John


>
>
> "John John - MVP" wrote:
>
>> Le wrote:
>>> "Le" wrote:
>>>
>>>> Thx Bill - did that and G: & Z: are still present based on "fsutil fsinfo
>>>> drives". My Y: drive went away and is presented as just H:. I used Disk
>>>> Manager to change the ID of the H: partition to Y: and I now have H: & Y: for
>>>> it.
>>> Further - I looked at the MountedDevices enty for H: and it look identical
>>> to Y: - deleted it, rebooted, and H: went away. Z: however, has a wildly
>>> different key from G:'s. Would it be reasonable to replace Z:'s with G:'s
>>> then reboot?
>> Things that I would try:
>>
>> 1- If you have information or partitions that you want to keep on the
>> disk you can rewrite the disk signature and force Windows to reenumerate
>> the disk and its partitions. To rewrite the signature boot the computer
>> with a Windows 98 Startup floppy and issue the FDISK /MBR command
>> against the disk, this will rewrite the disk signature but it will leave
>> partitions intact.
>>
>> 2- If you can afford to lose all the information on the disk then you
>> can force a reinitialization of the disk in several manners, two of them:
>>
>> A- Download a disk diagnostic utility from the disk manufacturer's site
>> and have it zero out the first few sectors on the drive, no need to zero
>> out the whole disk if the utility offers an option to only rewrite the
>> first sectors but other than take more time it won't hurt to rewrite the
>> whole disk.
>>
>> B- Use the Windows built-in Diskpart command line tool and use the Clean
>> parameter to clear the disk. Be careful with Diskpart, slippy fingers
>> or a lapse of attention can result in data loss!
>>
>> John
>>
>>
>>>> "Bill Blanton" wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> There's probably minor corruption in this registry key:
>>>>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices
>>>>>
>>>>> Assuming you have somewhat of a basic setup, make a restore point and
>>>>> delete that key and reboot. Windows will re-enumerate all drive letters.
>>>>>
>>>>> Note that if you have moved "system objects" such as the paging file or
>>>>> My Documents, or if you have changed the default letter for volumes
>>>>> (including adding or subtracting drives), you may have to redo all or
>>>>> some of that.
>>>>>
>>>>> Depending on your setup, there may be some risk.. Hence the restore
>>>>> point. ;)
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On 3/7/2010 20:14, Le wrote:
>>>>>> G: has never shown up in the Disk Manager but does show up in "fsutil fsinfo
>>>>>> drives". So, no, I found no way to "remove" the drive. I did delete the
>>>>>> device z: in the Disk Manger prior to reformatting.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Tried dismounting G: via fsutil but no joy.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "neil" wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Did you remove G and Z and then reset as Z again.?
>>>>>>> Neil
>>>>>>> "Le"<Le(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>>>>>> news:BF3628FC-88EF-4C13-9629-72CF7A0E2E42(a)microsoft.com...
>>>>>>>> I have a drive which has been Z: for eons and has recently had G: assigned
>>>>>>>> as
>>>>>>>> well. I reformatted the drive, added as Z: again and still G: is defined.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I'm getting corruption on indices (even though indexing is turned off for
>>>>>>>> the drive as Z:). Ping ponging between chkdsk /f for the two IDs settles
>>>>>>>> down to no errors but then a reboot and it's back...
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> XP Pro, SP3, what else would help the experts?
>>>>>>> .
>>>>>>>
>>>>> .
>>>>>
>> .
>>

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