"Hide empty drives in my computer folder"

[Derek]

If there's no disc inserted on my D: drive, the drive doesn't appear in my
"computer folder", even when I leave the "Hide empty drives in my computer
folder" checkbox unchecked in the folder options menu. Is there another
setting somewhere to reveal my empty D: drive? I'm using Win 7 ultimate 64
bit.

 

[R. C. White]

?Hi, Derek.

My Drive D: is a partition on my first hard disk drive. What kind of device
is YOUR Drive D:? CD/DVD-ROM drive? USB Flash drive? SD card from your
camera?

What does Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) say about that drive?

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP (2002-9/30/10)
Windows Live Mail Version 2011 (Build 15.4.3502.0922) in Win7 Ultimate x64
SP1 beta


"Derek" wrote in message
If there's no disc inserted on my D: drive, the drive doesn't appear in my
"computer folder", even when I leave the "Hide empty drives in my computer
folder" checkbox unchecked in the folder options menu. Is there another
setting somewhere to reveal my empty D: drive? I'm using Win 7 ultimate 64
bit.

 

[Derek]

?Hi, Derek.
Wotcha!

My Drive D: is a partition on my first hard disk drive. What kind of device
is YOUR Drive D:? CD/DVD-ROM drive? USB Flash drive? SD card from your
camera?

It's a CD/DVD-ROM drive.

What does Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) say about that drive?

CD-ROM 0
DVD (D

No Media

 

[Ed Cryer]

If there's no disc inserted on my D: drive, the drive doesn't appear in my
"computer folder", even when I leave the "Hide empty drives in my computer
folder" checkbox unchecked in the folder options menu. Is there another
setting somewhere to reveal my empty D: drive? I'm using Win 7 ultimate 64
bit.

This might seem a bit basic, but I've seen it happen
Right click on "Devices with removable storage" and hit "Expand group".

Ed

 

[skeeter]

It's a CD/DVD-ROM drive.


CD-ROM 0
DVD (D

No Media

it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but click computer and it will show
in the right pane

 

[Derek]

it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but click computer and it will show
in the right pane

Yes, it does show up in the R/H pane, but not in the left. In the L/H pane
under "Computer" it shows;

Local Disk (C
CD Drive (E WD Smartware
My Book (F

 

[Derek]

This might seem a bit basic, but I've seen it happen
Right click on "Devices with removable storage" and hit "Expand group".

Yep, tried that but Drive D: still fails to show in the L/H pane.

 

[jbm]

If there's no disc inserted on my D: drive, the drive doesn't appear in my
"computer folder", even when I leave the "Hide empty drives in my computer
folder" checkbox unchecked in the folder options menu. Is there another
setting somewhere to reveal my empty D: drive? I'm using Win 7 ultimate 64
bit.

Organise > Folder and search options

View tab >

In the "Advanced settings", under the "Hidden files and folders" item, check
the "Show hidden files, folders or drives".

Apply > OK

That should do what you want. Took me ages to find it when I set this up.

jim

 

[Stan Brown]

Yes, it does show up in the R/H pane, but not in the left. In the L/H pane
under "Computer" it shows;

Local Disk (C
CD Drive (E WD Smartware
My Book (F

Weird! Mine empty CD/DVD drive shows up in both left and right
panes. Maybe it's because I used diskmgmt to assign it the non-
default drive letter Z.

 

[johnbee]

Organise > Folder and search options

View tab >

In the "Advanced settings", under the "Hidden files and folders" item,
check the "Show hidden files, folders or drives".

Apply > OK

That should do what you want. Took me ages to find it when I set this up.

jim

In the same section one of the boxes to optionally check is: 'Show empty
drives in the computer folder'. I don't know what it means because it seems
not to do anything, but it certainly sounds as though checking it would
solve the OP's question.

 

[Derek]

Organise > Folder and search options

View tab >

In the "Advanced settings", under the "Hidden files and folders" item, check
the "Show hidden files, folders or drives".

Apply > OK

That should do what you want. Took me ages to find it when I set this up.

jim

I've toggled that checkbox on and off, and the other checkbox - 'Show empty
drives in the computer folder', but the L/H pane still fails to show an
empty D: drive. I've also tried uninstalling the drive, rebooting so that
the drive is found and installed, but the problem (if indeed it is one
because the drive is included when loaded with a disc) remains. Also, when
inserting a USB memory stick with data, it's identified as drive D:.

 

[Derek]

Weird! Mine empty CD/DVD drive shows up in both left and right
panes. Maybe it's because I used diskmgmt to assign it the non-
default drive letter Z.

I might try that. Cheers.

 

[Derek]

In the same section one of the boxes to optionally check is: 'Show empty
drives in the computer folder'. I don't know what it means because it seems
not to do anything,

You're right: it doesn't.

but it certainly sounds as though checking it would
solve the OP's question.

That's what I was hoping. The problem doesn't present me with any
difficulties. I can still write to and read from D: when I insert a disk. I
might just have to live with it until my next clean-install.

 

[johnbee]

You're right: it doesn't.


That's what I was hoping. The problem doesn't present me with any
difficulties. I can still write to and read from D: when I insert a disk.
I
might just have to live with it until my next clean-install.

I am not sure whether this has been said, but I will in case it hasn't.

The bad news is that there is a Registry entry, in 'Current user', explorer,
advanced, named hidedriveswithnomedia. Mine is set to be zero. I suspect
yours is set to 1. Start regedit and have a look - you won't do any harm if
you just look.

I reckon whoever installed the drive set that value. Look on the bright
side - at least you don't have to open it to see if the drive has an empty
disk inside.

Anyway, you can change it with Regedit if you don't mind having a go.

Alternatively of course you can google the term and find a utility to do it
for you.

 

[Derek]

I am not sure whether this has been said, but I will in case it hasn't.

The bad news is that there is a Registry entry, in 'Current user', explorer,
advanced, named hidedriveswithnomedia.

I found the entry by navigating to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced,
and it was set to 0, like yours.

Mine is set to be zero. I suspect
yours is set to 1. Start regedit and have a look - you won't do any harm if
you just look.

I reckon whoever installed the drive set that value. Look on the bright
side - at least you don't have to open it to see if the drive has an empty
disk inside.

Anyway, you can change it with Regedit if you don't mind having a go.

Alternatively of course you can google the term and find a utility to do it
for you.

Cheers, John. Looks like I might have to live with it.

 

[johnbee]

I found the entry by navigating to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced,
and it was set to 0, like yours.


Cheers, John. Looks like I might have to live with it.

I reckon that you have unearthed a bug. That registry entry presumably is
supposed to be altered by the 'folder options' interface, and surely must be
the thing that is supposed to control the behaviour. My guess is that
altering the interface check box does nothing (or even changes the wrong
thing) and that behaviour is actually controlled by something else entirely.
Probably both done by the same programmer on a day when the next Grand Theft
Auto was released.

 

[Derek]

I reckon that you have unearthed a bug. That registry entry presumably is
supposed to be altered by the 'folder options' interface, and surely must be
the thing that is supposed to control the behaviour. My guess is that
altering the interface check box does nothing (or even changes the wrong
thing) and that behaviour is actually controlled by something else entirely.
Probably both done by the same programmer on a day when the next Grand Theft
Auto was released.

Well, I hope the batteries on his rumblepad run out. Funny thing is, when I
go to attach a file to an email the option to copy from D: is available,
even when the D: drive is empty, so gawd knows why it doesn't show up in my
"computer folder" - my machine knows it's there, empty or not.

 

[Dave-UK]

Yes, it does show up in the R/H pane, but not in the left. In the L/H pane
under "Computer" it shows;

Local Disk (C
CD Drive (E WD Smartware
My Book (F

My win7 64 shows the same , empty drive shown on the right pane but missing
from the left pane. I hadn't noticed it until I read this thread.
Perhaps it's a 'feature', not a bug!

 

[Derek]

My win7 64 shows the same , empty drive shown on the right pane but missing
from the left pane. I hadn't noticed it until I read this thread.
Perhaps it's a 'feature', not a bug!

Well, yeah, but then why include settings in the 'folder options' to either
hide or show empty drives if in fact it's a feature to hide empty drives?
A? A? What about that then, eh? ;-)

 

[Dave-UK]

Well, yeah, but then why include settings in the 'folder options' to either
hide or show empty drives if in fact it's a feature to hide empty drives?
A? A? What about that then, eh? ;-)

I seem to remember reading somewhere that
setting applied to usb drives, like card-readers etc.
This is what Windows 7 Annoyances says about it:

" Hide empty drives in the Computer folder.
This is one of the more stupid options in this window-particularly in
light of the numerous unused items that can't be removed-and this one
is turned on by default. The idea is to reduce confusion for those users
overwhelmed by the breadth of the English alphabet, and hide drives that
don't have data on them. Never mind that those same mythical users will
be even more baffled by the disappearance of empty USB drives, new
backup hard disks, and blank DVDs. "

Doesn't really help much. :-(