A external drive that is not connected to the computer shows in explor

[Supadupa]

Hi! I have a little annoying problem. A previously connected external drive shows up in my windows explorer even though it's not connected. It also takes up a drive letter. I can't eject it, when I try it says: "An error occurred while ejecting (G).

I would like to remove this non existent external drive and free up the drive letter G:. Any ideas?

 

[Layback Bear]

Do a complete proper Shut Down and Start Up and see if it works for you.

 

[benjy206]

What if you go into disk management and delete the volume? You can do this going - start - right click computer- click manage- then go to disk management on the volume should show - then right click and delete

 

[jumanji]

Open Registry Editor: Start > All Programs > Accessories > Run > regedit and then click on OK

Go to the following Registry entry

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MountPoints2]

If under MountPoints2 you find the stuck/ghost drive letter, right click on it and delete. Close the Registry Editor.

Log off and on or reboot.

Problem Resolved?

( Be careful with the registry. Delete only the stuck drive letter under MountPoints2 and nothing else. I would advise that you rightclick on MountPoints2, Export, give it a filename and save it to Documents. If need be, you can restore it later by doubleclicking on it..)

 

[Supadupa]

Open Registry Editor: Start > All Programs > Accessories > Run > regedit and then click on OK

Go to the following Registry entry

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MountPoints2]

If under MountPoints2 you find the stuck/ghost drive letter, right click on it and delete. Close the Registry Editor.

Log off and on or reboot.

Problem Resolved?

( Be careful with the registry. Delete only the stuck drive letter under MountPoints2 and nothing else. I would advise that you rightclick on MountPoints2, Export, give it a filename and save it to Documents. If need be, you can restore it later by doubleclicking on it..)

The drive does not show up in that location of regedit. Can you see it?

http://i516.photobucket.com/albums/u323/gottmedkakor/mousepoint_zpsa42acf0a.jpg

 

[nilank]

Post a screen shot of your disk management.

Click Start rb: > Right click 'Computer' > Manage > Click disk management on left pane and post a full screen screenshot.

Also try this: Reconnect the same external drive and make sure you can access G drive. Now click the green device removal icon in the taskbar notification area and click 'safely remove device'. Does this help?

If the green icon is not there, then right click G drive and click 'Eject' and then disconnect the drive from your system.

 

[Supadupa]

I think that the external drive was not actually a externaldrive but a truecrypt volume that was assigned to a drive letter. The drive does not show in disk management.

 

[jumanji]

See here on how to remove encryption and remove a file-hosted/partition-hosted Truecrypt volume. Hope this helps.

TrueCrypt - Free Open-Source Disk Encryption - Documentation - Removing Encryption

 

[nilank]

G: seems to be your DVD drive according to the screen shot:



Don't you have a DVD drive in your machine?

If not,

Click Start > Type in "Device Manager" and hit Enter.
Now expand "CD/DVD drives":



What do you see there? If there's an entry, right click it and click Uninstall.

Now is your G free?

 

[marthal222]

ghost drive E

I appreciate the insights and possible solutions.
A "ghost" E drive is showing up in Explorer under "Devices with Removable Storage". It does not identify file type nor any size.
Computer - Properties - Hardware - it is listed as Generic-Multi-Card USB Device.
In Folder Options, I have unchecked "Don't show hidden files and folders".
I have not yet checked the bios.
SCANNOW did not reveal any integrity problems.
I checked the Registry and found it ("E"), as described in this blog, and deleted it. It disappeared in Explorer, but on re-boot, E shows back up in Explorer (message about software being installed for device), but does not show up in the Registry where it previously was.
I see it ("E") in Device Manager, both under Disk drives (Generic - Multi-Card USB Device) as well as under Portable Devices (E:\). I uninstalled both, it disappears, but on re-boot, same software install message, and, shows back up both in Explorer and in Device Manager.
In Device Manager - View - Devices by Connection - UMBus Enumerator - there was a reference to a USB Mass Storage Device. I uninstalled it. Reboot, it shows up in Explorer, but not in UMBus.
Under USB Hosts, I saw USB Mass Storage Device. I deleted it, but it showed back up. I then deleted all of the entries under USB Hosts, rebooted, and USB Mass did not show up. But, that "ghost" E is still showing up in Explorer - at boot, software is being installed for it.
Every re-boot, device software (generic MS) is being installed, and E shows up.
Computer - Manage - Disk Management - Disk 1 - Removable (E) - no media, not "basic" (it's blank); Disk 0 is the HD, Disk G is the DVD. When I right click on the E, no opportunity to delete.
I have an external HD - Passport - and when I connect it, it shows up as Passport (F). I have flash drives that I use, and they show up as well, as their own drive. Nothing I have associates itself with that drive E.
As you might understand, I am somewhat perturbed, confused, and would greatly appreciate the expertise associated with this forum.
Thnx

 

[statmanjim]

I was experiencing a similar situation. Showing an E drive. Found out it was my printer.