Microsoft KB Archive Search

Notice: This website is an unofficial Microsoft Knowledge Base (hereinafter KB) archive and is intended to provide a reliable access to deleted content from Microsoft KB. All KB articles are owned by Microsoft Corporation. Read full disclaimer for more details.

  1. Home
  2. Hide physical drives in Windows Explorer

Hide physical drives in Windows Explorer

View products that this article applies to.

Author:

Raghu Boddu MVP

↑ Back to the top

COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS CONTENT DISCLAIMER

MICROSOFT CORPORATION AND/OR ITS RESPECTIVE SUPPLIERS MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS ABOUT THE SUITABILITY, RELIABILITY, OR ACCURACY OF THE INFORMATION AND RELATED GRAPHICS CONTAINED HEREIN. ALL SUCH INFORMATION AND RELATED GRAPHICS ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT AND/OR ITS RESPECTIVE SUPPLIERS HEREBY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS WITH REGARD TO THIS INFORMATION AND RELATED GRAPHICS, INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WORKMANLIKE EFFORT, TITLE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. YOU SPECIFICALLY AGREE THAT IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT AND/OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE INFORMATION AND RELATED GRAPHICS CONTAINED HEREIN, WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF MICROSOFT OR ANY OF ITS SUPPLIERS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGES.

↑ Back to the top

SUMMARY

Hiding the individual physical/removable/optical drives in My computer is possible in Windows XP using the "NoDrives" registry entry. This is equivalent to the Hide these specified drives in My Computer Group Policy.

↑ Back to the top

RESOLUTION

The NoDrives entry hides the specified drives from My Computer, Windows Explorer, and in the Send To menu. However, you can have access to the required drive from Start, Run.
 
You can use the corresponding registry value should be used to hide the required drive:
 
A: 01 00 00 00
B: 02 00 00 00
C: 04 00 00 00
D: 08 00 00 00
E: 10 00 00 00
F: 20 00 00 00
G: 40 00 00 00
H: 80 00 00 00
I: 00 01 00 00
J: 00 02 00 00
K: 00 04 00 00
L: 00 08 00 00
M: 00 10 00 00
N: 00 20 00 00
O: 00 40 00 00
P: 00 80 00 00
Q: 00 00 01 00
R: 00 00 02 00
S: 00 00 04 00
T: 00 00 08 00
U: 00 00 10 00
V: 00 00 20 00
W: 00 00 40 00
X: 00 00 80 00
Y: 00 00 00 01
Z: 00 00 00 02
 
Go to Windows registry Editor.
Navigate to the following path:
 
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
 
In the right-pane, create a new Binary entry "NoDrives"
Enter the corresponding binary value.
Save and restart Windows.

↑ Back to the top

MORE INFORMATION

NOTE: Performing these steps in Windows XP Professional Edition will remove the encrypted password data. Don't perform these steps, in case if you have any encrypted passwords.

↑ Back to the top

Keywords: kb, KB555438, kbhowto, kbpubtypecca, kbpubmvp

↑ Back to the top

Article Info
Article ID : 555438
Revision : 3
Created on : 8/19/2020
Published on : 8/20/2020
Exists online : False
Views : 381