Removable Storage

[cindysgold]

How do I delete Usb devices from my computer ? I have unistalled them from Device Manager. But, when I restart the computer they come back. I have several and get confussed on which is which.

Thanks : )

 

[F5ing]

Are they physically disconnected when you boot?

 

[cindysgold]

The usb's are not connected to the computer when I restart.

 

[F5ing]

Where are you seeing the entries for them when they cause confusion? I mean, is it showing the disconnected drives in Windows Explorer, file save dialogs, safely remove hardware dialog?

Oh, and welcome to the forum! Sometimes I don't know where my manners are!

 

[cindysgold]

I click on computer and under Devices with removable storage there are 5 listed. I go into Device Maneger and unistall them. When I restart my computer they come back.
I would like to delete them. I don't use these flash drives anymore.

 

[F5ing]

Were these little USB flash drives or the larger USB hard drives?

And where in device manager did you uninstall?

 

[EzioAuditore]

Are these flash drives or do you've a memory card reader installed? I had similar problem phantom drives appeared but they were for the card reader.
Are those devices empty as viewed from explorer? If answer to both questions is yes, you can go to Tools>Folder options>view and check 'Hide empty drives and folders' or something like that.
If you'd instead like to disable those, go to device manager, right click the devices and select Disable, not uninstall.

 

[cindysgold]

Thank You ! There gone from Devices and removable storage.

 

[EzioAuditore]

Glad we could help.

 

[DeaconFrost]

All that does is stop the drives from being visible. They can't be flash drives if they keep coming back, unless they are still connected to the computer.

My guess is, you have a card reader or a printer with a card reader, and those drives are showing up in Explorer. The better solution is to rename them to new letters, to move them "out of the way", so to speak.

 

[cindysgold]

If I rename them then I'm still stuck with them there, right..

 

[DeaconFrost]

It isn't an issue to have them visible in Explorer. If you rename them...there's no confusion. My card reader uses M, N, O, and P. I have several other drive letters in use, plus several network drives connected, and there's no confusion.

 

[cindysgold]

Can I use any name or letter that I want ?

 

[boohbah]

can you look and see if they are showing in devices and printers,
if so is it possible to remove them there then they wont show in " computer"
i had this issue with an old phone and it showed in computer as a removable storage item, removing it from devices and printers sorted it out.

 

[DeaconFrost]

You can use any free letter you want. For example, C, couldn't be used, obviously. My three hard drives are C, D, and E. My optical drive is F. Then I have a huge gap separating the rest. As I said, M, N, O, and P, are my card reader, and S, U, and Z are network drives. Drives that allow it, like hard drives, get names, like my C drive is SYSTEM, D is STORAGE, and E is MEDIA. The network drives are recognizable by path. There's very little to memorize, and it sounds like you are over-thinking or over-complicating your setup.

 

[cindysgold]

Here is a screen shot. hope I did it right

 

[DeaconFrost]

That's definitely a card-reader. If you go into Disk Management, you'll be able to right click on any drive and change it's letter (except C).

 

[F5ing]

To help avoid confusion and keep the Explorer window uncluttered while viewing the "Computer" folder, while in Explorer, do:

Alt-T -> Folder options -> in View tab, select "Hide empty drives in the Computer folder", click OK.

That way they won't appear unless you insert a card into the reader. After you eject the card the icon/listing for it will disappear.

 

[cindysgold]

When I click Alt-T I don't have a folder option.

 

[cindysgold]

I found it and its already checked.