windows explorer shows a non-existent cdrom

[Peter Jam]

Sorry to say I had this problem once before too long to remember how I fixed
it exactly. My computer now has a 3rd CDROM and I believe it is caused by a
USB Stick. XPProSP3 with 2 IDE CDROMS M:\ & R:\ and 2 SATA hard drives C:\ &
D:\ so when I use a USB stick it always comes up as E:\.
Well today the USB came up as F:\ so i looked in Windows Explorere and it
shows a CDROM at E:\ also. Disk management doesn't show this 3rd CDROM.
I have a suspicion it is caused by buggy USB info.
Hoping someone has an inkling how to remove this ghost.

 

[Peter Jam]

I was correct, it was buggy USB. I used a little utility called XP SysPad
and opened Removeable Storage Manager. There was an extra Toshiba USB
librarie in there. I deleted it and the errant CDROM is gone. My USB still
thinks it is F:\, but I can live with that. Disk Manager wouldn't let me
change it back to E:\

 

[pjam]

I was correct, it was buggy USB.  I used a little utility called XP SysPad
and opened Removeable Storage Manager.  There was an extra Toshiba USB
librarie in there.  I deleted it and the errant CDROM is gone.  My USB still
thinks it is F:\, but I can live with that.  Disk Manager wouldn't let me
change it back to E:\
--
Peter Jam
Network System Administrator
Lorch Microwave Inc





- Show quoted text -

I was wrong my E: CDROM is back after a reboot and it doesn't show up
anymore as a Toshiba with a red X in the Removable Libraries. Any
idea?

 

[Peter Jam]

Still seeing an errant CDROM Drive E: which pushes my USB stick to F:

Help!

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Still seeing an errant CDROM Drive E: which pushes my USB stick to F:

Help!

Delete HKLM\SYSTEM\MountedDevices\DosDevices\E: and
reboot the machine.

 

[Peter Jam]

Pegasus,
This is really weird. I didn't have a
HKLM\SYSTEM\MountedDevices\DosDevices\E: key, but I still had a
HKLM\SYSTEM\MountedDevices\DosDevices\T: key from when I had hookerd up a
dying SATA through USB to get data from it. So, i deleted the T: and
rebooted. Check explorer and no extra CDROM, plugged in the USB stick and it
is back to E:.
Yeah!
Thanks,

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Weird indeed - perhaps your PC is dyslexic! Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Peter Jam]

Pegasus,
Its baaaaaaack! Rebooted today and I have a third CD Rom again. nothing
weird id Mounted volumes.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Which drive letter?
What's the output of the following commands:
mountvol.exe
fsutil.exe fsinfo drives

 

[Peter Jam]

Pegasus,
it shows up as E:\ here is the mountvol output:
Creates, deletes, or lists a volume mount point.

MOUNTVOL [drive:]path VolumeName
MOUNTVOL [drive:]path /D
MOUNTVOL [drive:]path /L

path Specifies the existing NTFS directory where the mount
point will reside.
VolumeName Specifies the volume name that is the target of the mount
point.
/D Removes the volume mount point from the specified directory.
/L Lists the mounted volume name for the specified directory.

Possible values for VolumeName along with current mount points are:

\\?\Volume{9406d3c4-1ffb-11dc-a35b-806d6172696f}\
C:\

\\?\Volume{aabe30c0-20b6-11dc-af7d-806d6172696f}\
D:\

\\?\Volume{9406d3c1-1ffb-11dc-a35b-806d6172696f}\
M:\

\\?\Volume{9406d3c2-1ffb-11dc-a35b-806d6172696f}\
R:\

\\?\Volume{9406d3c0-1ffb-11dc-a35b-806d6172696f}\
A:\

C: & D: are SATA drives and M: is my DVD and R: is my DVD Writer.
here is the fsinfo output:

Drives: A:\ C:\ D:\ E:\ G:\ I:\ M:\ N:\ O:\ P:\ R:\ S:\ X:\ Z:\
The following are mapped network drives: G, I, N, O, P, S, X, Z so where
did the E; come from? I never heard of fsutil fsinfo before, neat trick.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Since the drive does not show up under the Mountvol
command, it is either a substituted or a networked drive.
You can check it like so:
subst{Enter}
net use{Enter}
I think you now need to examine the various scripts on your
machine and the documentation that exists about them.

Pegasus,
it shows up as E:\ here is the mountvol output:
Creates, deletes, or lists a volume mount point.

MOUNTVOL [drive:]path VolumeName
MOUNTVOL [drive:]path /D
MOUNTVOL [drive:]path /L

path Specifies the existing NTFS directory where the mount
point will reside.
VolumeName Specifies the volume name that is the target of the mount
point.
/D Removes the volume mount point from the specified
directory.
/L Lists the mounted volume name for the specified directory.

Possible values for VolumeName along with current mount points are:

\\?\Volume{9406d3c4-1ffb-11dc-a35b-806d6172696f}\
C:\

\\?\Volume{aabe30c0-20b6-11dc-af7d-806d6172696f}\
D:\

\\?\Volume{9406d3c1-1ffb-11dc-a35b-806d6172696f}\
M:\

\\?\Volume{9406d3c2-1ffb-11dc-a35b-806d6172696f}\
R:\

\\?\Volume{9406d3c0-1ffb-11dc-a35b-806d6172696f}\
A:\

C: & D: are SATA drives and M: is my DVD and R: is my DVD Writer.
here is the fsinfo output:

Drives: A:\ C:\ D:\ E:\ G:\ I:\ M:\ N:\ O:\ P:\ R:\ S:\ X:\ Z:\
The following are mapped network drives: G, I, N, O, P, S, X, Z so where
did the E; come from? I never heard of fsutil fsinfo before, neat trick.

--
Peter Jam
Network System Administrator
Lorch Microwave Inc

Which drive letter?
What's the output of the following commands:
mountvol.exe
fsutil.exe fsinfo drives

 

[Peter Jam]

Pegasus,
"subst" returned nothing and "net use" returned:
New connections will be remembered.


Status Local Remote Network

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OK G: \\slossmas90\erp Microsoft Windows Network
OK I: \\SLOSSFILE01\ENG Microsoft Windows Network
OK N: \\SLOSSPRINT01\users Microsoft Windows Network
OK O: \\SLOSSPRINT01\WorkStuff Microsoft Windows Network
OK P: \\SLOSSPRINT01\homes\slospjam
Microsoft Windows Network
OK S: \\Slosslm01\Scans Microsoft Windows Network
OK Z: \\Slosslm01\MAS904-bak Microsoft Windows Network
The command completed successfully.

And those are all our normal network maps, except Z:\ which I map to do an
additional backup with "Replicator".
A search of the registry for E:\ turned up nothing.


--
Peter Jam
Network System Administrator
Lorch Microwave Inc

Since the drive does not show up under the Mountvol
command, it is either a substituted or a networked drive.
You can check it like so:
subst{Enter}
net use{Enter}
I think you now need to examine the various scripts on your
machine and the documentation that exists about them.

Pegasus,
it shows up as E:\ here is the mountvol output:
Creates, deletes, or lists a volume mount point.

MOUNTVOL [drive:]path VolumeName
MOUNTVOL [drive:]path /D
MOUNTVOL [drive:]path /L

path Specifies the existing NTFS directory where the mount
point will reside.
VolumeName Specifies the volume name that is the target of the mount
point.
/D Removes the volume mount point from the specified
directory.
/L Lists the mounted volume name for the specified directory.

Possible values for VolumeName along with current mount points are:

\\?\Volume{9406d3c4-1ffb-11dc-a35b-806d6172696f}\
C:\

\\?\Volume{aabe30c0-20b6-11dc-af7d-806d6172696f}\
D:\

\\?\Volume{9406d3c1-1ffb-11dc-a35b-806d6172696f}\
M:\

\\?\Volume{9406d3c2-1ffb-11dc-a35b-806d6172696f}\
R:\

\\?\Volume{9406d3c0-1ffb-11dc-a35b-806d6172696f}\
A:\

C: & D: are SATA drives and M: is my DVD and R: is my DVD Writer.
here is the fsinfo output:

Drives: A:\ C:\ D:\ E:\ G:\ I:\ M:\ N:\ O:\ P:\ R:\ S:\ X:\ Z:\
The following are mapped network drives: G, I, N, O, P, S, X, Z so where
did the E; come from? I never heard of fsutil fsinfo before, neat trick.

--
Peter Jam
Network System Administrator
Lorch Microwave Inc

Which drive letter?
What's the output of the following commands:
mountvol.exe
fsutil.exe fsinfo drives


Pegasus,
Its baaaaaaack! Rebooted today and I have a third CD Rom again.
nothing
weird id Mounted volumes.

--
Peter Jam
Network System Administrator
Lorch Microwave Inc



:

Weird indeed - perhaps your PC is dyslexic! Thanks for the feedback.

Pegasus,
This is really weird. I didn't have a
HKLM\SYSTEM\MountedDevices\DosDevices\E: key, but I still had a
HKLM\SYSTEM\MountedDevices\DosDevices\T: key from when I had hookerd
up
a
dying SATA through USB to get data from it. So, i deleted the T:
and
rebooted. Check explorer and no extra CDROM, plugged in the USB
stick
and
it
is back to E:.
Yeah!
Thanks,
--
Peter Jam
Network System Administrator
Lorch Microwave Inc



:

Still seeing an errant CDROM Drive E: which pushes my USB stick
to
F:

Help!

--
Peter Jam
Network System Administrator
Lorch Microwave Inc


Delete HKLM\SYSTEM\MountedDevices\DosDevices\E: and
reboot the machine.

 

[Bob I]

Is the flash drive U3 enabled? If so, that is what is doing it.

 

[Peter Jam]

Bob,
I don't believe so. Only have USB gear so far. how would i tell if it is
enabled?

 

[Bob I]

Please lose the Signature line or change to bottom posting. It clears
all the quotes. U3 provides for running applications from the
thumbdrive. Is it installed?

 

[Peter Jam]

Bob,
I have never heard of U3, however the USB sticks do have PortableApps Suite
1.1 installed. Is it similar? It wasn't a problem before. I have been
using for quite a while.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Pegasus,
"subst" returned nothing and "net use" returned:

Status Local Remote Network

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OK G: \\slossmas90\erp Microsoft Windows Network
OK I: \\SLOSSFILE01\ENG Microsoft Windows Network
OK N: \\SLOSSPRINT01\users Microsoft Windows Network
OK O: \\SLOSSPRINT01\WorkStuff Microsoft Windows Network
OK P: \\SLOSSPRINT01\homes\slospjam
Microsoft Windows Network
OK S: \\Slosslm01\Scans Microsoft Windows Network
OK Z: \\Slosslm01\MAS904-bak Microsoft Windows Network
The command completed successfully.

And those are all our normal network maps, except Z:\ which I map to do an
additional backup with "Replicator".
A search of the registry for E:\ turned up nothing.

Sorry, I have run out of magic bullets. At this stage I can see four
options for you, listed in order of preference:
1. Live with the problem.
2. Knock out the unwanted drives by inserting this line into your
logon script:
mountvol E: /d
3. Format the disk and reload Windows.
4. Let me have a look at your machine with my own eyes. If you want
to know more about this option, send a note to pegasusATyahooDOTcom.

 

[Bob I]

Did you inadvertently activate it? We had a U3 stick that was "benign"
until someone installed it. Then the only way to get it off was the
uninstall/remove path. It would display a "cd rom" drive letter in
addition to the memory stick letter. "mystery CD" was E: and the flash
was F:.

 

[Peter Jam]

Bob,
Possible it was part of one of the Apps. The stick I have in there now was
formatted and re-installed within the last 2 weeks as I could no update Open
Office 2.4.1 due to file corruption. So if it is a problem with U3 it would
have to be the other stick, right?
Both sticks are F:\ at work because of the E:\CDROM. At home however they
remain E:\ as I don't have the same problem.