Both my mobile USB drive (160G spinning disk) and portable USB stick (4G flash) are multiply partitioned FAT32. These partitions were created, and show up, and can be independently used and addressed, in Linux.
When the devices are inserted into a Windows XP machine then all partitions on the drive show up in Explorer, and all as Local Disks. However, the stick shows only one of its partitions in Explorer, and this time as a "Removable Disk". None of the others are visible to Windows XP.
Apparently if I could fool Windows into recognising the stick as a Local Disk rather than a Removable Disk, then all its partitions would show up and can be independently used and addressed, just as on the mobile drive.
Does anybody have experience of managing this fix, who can explain it, or point me to a HowTo?
Thank you.
Fergus
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USB Device: Local Disk / Removable Disk
May 14, 2007 - 8:07am
#1
USB Device: Local Disk / Removable Disk
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Hard drives are considered local, and flash drives/cards are considered removable, and there's not really anything you can do about it. However, you can mount the other partitions manually via Computer Management (Disk Management). It can be accessed either through Control Panel (CP -> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management -> Disk Management) or by opening MMC and choosing CM (Run... -> mmc -> Open... -> %windir%\system32\compmgmt.msc -> Disk Management).
Vintage!
I wish! But thank you for this suggestion. Getting in to Disk Manager shows the device but with only one partition visible (out of 3 altogether, in my case). Whatever the user might try to do, Windows stubbornly refuses to exhibit the other two, announcing "The operation did not complete because the partition or volume is not enabled. To enable the partition or volume, restart the computer." Re-starting the computer achieves precisely nothing. Back to trying to render Removable Disk -> Local Disk.
Fergus
Search the Knowledge Base.
Vintage!
You need the Hitachi Filter Driver .
It masks the RMB so windows thinks your flash-drive is a fixed disk .
Simply install the (non-signed) driver and instruct your flash-drive to use it.
Multiple partitions will only work on machines that have the driver installed .
http://home.graffiti.net/jaclaz:graffiti.net/Projects/USBXP/xpfildrvr122...