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Forums › Microsoft Windows › How to remove a phantom drive letter?
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#171119 7-Apr-2015 11:02
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I am having problems with System Protection creating restore points - or even managing it.

I suspect this is caused by a phantom drive assigned to G:

I can't open it, it's not listed to any volumes on Computer Management, It's size is 0 bytes, it doesn't appear on diskpart.

It seems is a remnant of a USB drive - or something like this.

I have Device Remover but how can I identify which one to uninstall?




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  #1278229 7-Apr-2015 11:17
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Hmmm. Looking at the Event Viewer I can see nothing. It's empty.

I'd say this Windows 8.1 install ran its course and the laptop is due for a refresh.




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  #1278244 7-Apr-2015 11:40
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Couldn't you just plug in a USB drive, associate it with that drive letter and then remove? It may let you.




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  #1278250 7-Apr-2015 11:46
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You can't associate with a letter as it doesn't show up as available.

Removed CloneDrive and it's gone - interesting as it wasn't there before. But the System Protection still doesn't work and Event Log is empty.

Easier to reinstall Windows...



I know Volume Shadow Copy provider service must be set to Automatic, etc, etc. All checked.




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  #1278257 7-Apr-2015 12:04
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Actually the phantom drive letter just reappeared...




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  #1278259 7-Apr-2015 12:07
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I now suspect this phantom drive letter is part of Acronis...




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  #1278293 7-Apr-2015 13:08
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I read somewhere that Cryptolocker also creates phantom drive.

 
 
 
 

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  #1278295 7-Apr-2015 13:13
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Nah, certainly not it - run EMET, Norton 360, MalwareBytes here as well as Microsoft Security scanner offline every few weeks. I am now almost certain it's an Acronis thing.

Still may not be related to the System Protection and Event Log problems...




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  #1279862 9-Apr-2015 17:32
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subst X: /D
perhaps?

you can use the subst command to create a drive letter that directs to a specific folder on another hard drive.
Eg. you can make your x: drive go to c:\temp\x\
I think they call it a hard link or maybe im confused.

But maybe its worth a shot?

I know some backup software usually creates a drive for restoring files?




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  #1279984 9-Apr-2015 20:14
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SUBST will only work on virtual drives - this one is very "real" as in the OS thinks it's real... But thanks for the suggestion anyway.




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