Names of external drives not shown in Windows Explorer

Hi iron2000,

Here's some thoughts:

1. Can you rename files on this drive. I had a similar problem where the drive name wouldn't show and I noticed that my files were read only. So I wrote a script to fix it, it's attached in case it fixes your issue.

2. Take a look at this posts that shows a possible problem with portable apps if that is installed on your USB

3. Can you rename them through the disk management module?

4. Are you logged in with rights to rename drives?

5. Are the drives readable, I know that my USB's appear as Local Disk if they are corrupt.

And a couple of long-shots, worth while mentioning, but I expect you'll rule them right out.
1. Run chkdsk /R /X on them to check that they are sound
2. Ensure all drives are de fragmented so that windows resources are clear.

iron2000 said:

1. Files can be renamed
2. There are no portable apps installed
3. Hmm, the name changes in disk management but remains the same in explorer
4. How do you check this? But I did rename my C drive successfully.
5. They are readable

====

!!
Ok, I figured it out!
Just remembered that I used a program call "Ninja Pendisk" in XP.
It adds a hidden folder named "autorun.inf" to prevent malicious autoruns.

I deleted that hidden folder, eject, reinsert and the drive name showed up again!

Solved!

Thanks for the quick reply, Tim :)

Great! Glad it's all fixed.

I have another batch file that I use to add a custom hidden autorun.inf and disable the drive autorun function. I can post it if you want a win7 replacement for your Ninja Pendisk.

iron2000 said:

Do post it please!

Here it is, it's originally written by the Trend Micro support team. I can't remember if I made any changes to it or not, so I'm giving all props to them.