[Solved] Odd Win7 problem: All USB data drives showing same name

[Kaido]

Update: Fixed! (thanks KillerBee!)

A month or two ago, I formatted a USB stick with Memtest86+ for USB booting. Ever since then, any USB drives I plug in (flash sticks, hard drives, etc.) show up as Memtest now. I can reformat & rename them, but the default is "Memtest" when I plug them back in; it's really weird. Gave it a quick google but no immediate answers. Rebooted, updates, yada yada yada, no dice. Short of reformatting, any tricks for fixing this?

 

[KillerBee]

maybe try this:
http://www.indiastudychannel.com/re...able-Drive-Name-Label-Corruption-Windows.aspx
===========================
You need to edit your registry settings.
1> Click Start
2> Select Run from the options or press Windows' Key + R
3> In the Run'd Dialog Box type regedit

Then, navigate to this path:

1> Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
2> Expand SOFTWARE
3> Expand Microsoft
4> Expand Windows
5> Expand CurrentVersion
6> Expand Explorer
7> Expand DriveIcons

Here, select the drive letter by expanding 'DriveIcons'.

Delete the following entries under 'DriveIcons' by expanding 'DriveIcons':
1> 'DefaultIcon'
2> 'DefaultLabel'

Then try ejecting any USB drive/Removebale Drive and inserting it again.
Proper Label and Icon should now reflect.

 

[Kaido]

Delete the following entries under 'DriveIcons' by expanding 'DriveIcons':
1> 'DefaultIcon'
2> 'DefaultLabel'

Thanks - unfortunately I'm not showing either of those entries in my registry 🙁

 

[KillerBee]

oh well - strike 1 😛
have you searched the registry for the name memtest?

 

[Kaido]

oh well - strike 1 😛
have you searched the registry for the name memtest?

D'oh, good thinking - found it!

HKEY_USERS\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\DriveIcons\G\DefaultLabel = Memtest86

So "G" was my next free drive letter; I'm guessing that the Memtest86+ USB installer threw in that registry key as part of the installation process. I removed the entire drive letter tree & it fixed it! Weird, never had to use this before. Found a Microsoft entry for adding custom labels to drive letters:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/hh127426(v=vs.85).aspx

Thanks!

 

[BonzaiDuck]

D'oh, good thinking - found it!

HKEY_USERS\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\DriveIcons\G\DefaultLabel = Memtest86

So "G" was my next free drive letter; I'm guessing that the Memtest86+ USB installer threw in that registry key as part of the installation process. I removed the entire drive letter tree & it fixed it! Weird, never had to use this before. Found a Microsoft entry for adding custom labels to drive letters:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/hh127426(v=vs.85).aspx

Thanks!

I've never had such a problem, but I'm developing some backup and restore "fallbacks" and thinking of putting my Win7 install discs on USB. I'm even thinking I might obtain some "large" USB sticks -- say 64GB -- to make restore-able OS images for each machine.

So I'm wondering how the OP's problem emerged -- no less than how it is solved.