Where is USB info stored?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Fred Hebert
  • Start date Start date
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Fred Hebert

Does anyone know where XP stores the information about USB flash drives?

I have to update some software on 900 flash drives. I created a batch file
so I could just stick the drive in, press the space bar and the new files
would be copied to the drive...

Then I thought about a problem. XP "remembers" drives, because if I insert
a drive that was previously inserted, it remembers the drive letter. I
figure it has got to be going in the registry somewhere.

This is probably not a problem for the average user, but I am concerned
about causing problems with the information from 900 USB drives.

I would like to be able to back up the key before I get too far, then clean
out the "excess" data when I am done.

Can anyone help?
 
Fred said:
Does anyone know where XP stores the information about USB flash drives?

I have to update some software on 900 flash drives. I created a batch file
so I could just stick the drive in, press the space bar and the new files
would be copied to the drive...

Then I thought about a problem. XP "remembers" drives, because if I insert
a drive that was previously inserted, it remembers the drive letter. I
figure it has got to be going in the registry somewhere.

This is probably not a problem for the average user, but I am concerned
about causing problems with the information from 900 USB drives.

I would like to be able to back up the key before I get too far, then clean
out the "excess" data when I am done.

Can anyone help?
Click to expand...

Flash drives are enumerated in the Windows Registry. AFAIK,
if individual flash drives have different ID numbers, then
their enumeration would be unique and distinct, resulting in
the system "remembering" the drive letter.
 
Ghostrider said:
Flash drives are enumerated in the Windows Registry. AFAIK,
if individual flash drives have different ID numbers, then
their enumeration would be unique and distinct, resulting in
the system "remembering" the drive letter.
Click to expand...

I also recently discovered that if a drive has a unique name under
"Properties", WinXP will remember the drive's letter when it's reconnected.
 
Hello!

Fred Hebert said:
Does anyone know where XP stores the information about USB flash drives?

I have to update some software on 900 flash drives. I created a batch file
so I could just stick the drive in, press the space bar and the new files
would be copied to the drive...

Then I thought about a problem. XP "remembers" drives, because if I insert
a drive that was previously inserted, it remembers the drive letter. I
figure it has got to be going in the registry somewhere.

This is probably not a problem for the average user, but I am concerned
about causing problems with the information from 900 USB drives.

I would like to be able to back up the key before I get too far, then clean
out the "excess" data when I am done.

Can anyone help?
Click to expand...

Maybe this utility can help:
"USBDLM V2.3 - USB Drive Letter Manager for Windows XP"
http://www.uwe-sieber.de/usbdlm_e.html
When a removable drive (USB flash drive, flash card reader, portable hard drive) is attached for the first time, Windows mounts it
to the first available drive letter. If there is a network share on this letter, Windows will use it anyway for the new USB drive
because network shares are specific to the current user and not visible in the context of the system where the letter is assigned.
The USB drive then appears to be invisible.
You can change the letter assignments in the Windows Disk Management Console with a lot of mouse clicks but you have to do it again
for every new device.
And, for USB devices that have no serial number (in violation of the USB standards) you have to do it too when you attach it to a
different USB port. The worst case are two identical USB devices that have identical serial numbers which is definitely a violation
of the USB standards. It's impossible to use them at the same time.
USBDLM can for newly attached USB drives

check if the letter is used by a network share of the currently logged on user and assign the next letter that is 'really' available
assign a letter from a list of new default letters
assign letters for a specific USB drive by putting an INI file on the drive
assign letters for specific USB port
assign a folder on an NTFS drive to mount the slots of multi-slot card readers to
All functions are applied to USB drives only at the moment they are being attached.
USBDLM runs as Win32 service under Windows XP and higher. It works under Windows 2000 too but there are often problems determining
the USB port names.
Click to expand...

Regards, Roman
 
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