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WINRETOOLS showing a drive letter ( Z: for instance)
Environment:
Inspiron 17R - 5737 under W10 since August 2015
DBR 1.9.2.8
Support Assist: 1.2.6745.47
Problem: Since a couple of days, the Recovery Environment WINRETOOLS partition is showing the drive letter Z: with Windows Explorer.
On the other side, the DISK MANAGEMENT does not show the drive Z:, it shows only DISK0 with drives OS(C:) and PERSO(E:) and CD-ROM0 with drive D:.
Since April 2014, date of the purchase of this Inspiron, under Windows 8.1 and now under Windows 10, none of the hidden partitions DBR, RE, were visible.
Why now?
How can I remove the drive letter Z: since the DISK MANAGEMENT does not show it ?
Two days ago I created a Windows 10 SYSTEM IMAGE. Could this be the cause ?
Thanks for your help.
PS: I found an old thread named "Dell assign drive letters to recovery partitions". A post was added to it by end of January 2016.
DELL-Jesse L
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February 17th, 2016 11:00
GM95380,
Yes, that is from the upgrade.
WinRE - Windows Recovery Environment.
You should be able to hide it by removing it's existing drive letter in Disk Management.
Control Panel >> Admin Tools >> Computer Management >> Disk Management
Right-click the horizontal strip which represents the E volume and choose "Change Drive Letter & Paths".
Existing drive letter will be shown already highlighted.
Click 'Remove' (this removes just the drive letter, not the volume itself).
Without a drive letter, the only place you'll be able to see that volume in future is in Disk Management (or by booting from a utility CD containing disk/partition management software.
For me to better assist in troubleshooting, please click my DELL-Jesse L and send me a Private Message with the Dell Service Tag number and your Dell Order number.
Anonymous
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February 18th, 2016 09:00
Hello Jesse,
Here's the content of the private message I sent, excluding the private data.
"Hello Jesse,
Why did you speak about drive E:. I have not any problem with it.
I've followed your instructions to reach the "Disk Management" panel. (The alternate way to reach it is the Windows key+X.)
As indicated in my initial request, the drive letter Z: is not displayed on WINRETOOLS disk. The Z: letter does not appear anywhere in the DISK MANAGEMENT panel.
However, I can state that DISK MANAGEMENT KNOWS that the Z: drive letter is already used; I attempted to modify the drive letter ( E: ) of my PERSO disk partition. The Z: drive does not appear in the drop down drive list.
In other words, Windows Explorer show that WINRETOOLS use the Z: drive letter and it display it.
And DISK MANAGEMENT is aware that the Z: drive letter is used, but it does not display it.
Best regards. Gilbert."
Anonymous
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March 2nd, 2016 08:00
Hello Jesse,
I don't know if you have read my private message or my subsequent post of February the 18th.
I succeeded in solving this trouble today, thanks to the following post found in the Microsoft Community:
Its title: "Previously hidden drive now showing in Windows".
Its link: answers.microsoft.com/.../f0c75385-f4a5-4941-af22-67f609092d1d
To summarize the solution I applied:
- Open a "Command Prompt (Admin)" window
- Issue the command: mountvol Z:\ /D ( Z: being the hidden drive letter that should not show )
- Close the command prompt window.
We can close this case as SOLVED.
Best regards. Gilbert.
wackieworld
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July 15th, 2016 10:00
Thank you for this. I have been looking for a solution for months.
peterwbaker
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November 17th, 2017 01:00
Perfect:-) fixed my problem in 2 min! Thanks for posting Gilbert