Why would a computer show drive letters for discs that don't exist?

Digg This!     StumbleUpon     Del.icio.us

RELATED CONTENT Network Administration Why is access denied to my Active Directory (AD) users and computers? What network loss testing tools/methods calculate dropped packets from a PC? Network user management Do I have to disable DHCP on my router to create a DHCP server? What preventative maintenance procedures for network devices exist? Top 10 reasons why computers do not have network access to each other Troubleshooting -- 'Network Know-How' Chapter 17 How server virtualization improves efficiency in a client-server model Understand Windows tracert output to troubleshoot network connectivity Using tracert and TTL to troubleshoot network connectivity problems Network Administration Research Network administration Why is access denied to my Active Directory (AD) users and computers? What network loss testing tools/methods calculate dropped packets from a PC? Do I have to disable DHCP on my router to create a DHCP server? What preventative maintenance procedures for network devices exist? Is there VLAN software recommend for Realtek NICs? How can I replicate the services of Active Directory (AD) in ADC? Top 10 reasons why computers do not have network access to each other Which configuration management tools map connected network devices? How important are network infrastructure maps for engineers or admins? How server virtualization improves efficiency in a client-server model

RELATED GLOSSARY TERMS Terms from Whatis.com − the technology online dictionary availability  (SearchNetworking.com) carrier detect  (SearchNetworking.com) fiber jumper  (SearchNetworking.com) layer 2  (SearchNetworking.com) MAE  (SearchNetworking.com) Network layer  (SearchNetworking.com) networking  (SearchNetworking.com) OSI  (SearchNetworking.com) patch cord  (SearchNetworking.com) staggered quadrature phase-shift keying  (SearchNetworking.com)

RELATED RESOURCES 2020software.com, trial software downloads for accounting software, ERP software, CRM software and business software systems Search Bitpipe.com for the latest white papers and business webcasts Whatis.com, the online computer dictionary

Ah, this is a case of the phantom drive letters! I haven't seen this in a while but there are a few things that I would recommend to investigate. The first thing to do is to navigate to drive management (Right click on My Computer -> Manage -> Disk Management for XP machines) on the computer and identify what the Operating System thinks that these drives are. Are they accessible? Can you click on them? Do they open up anything? What are they formatted as?

Since they're listed as removable drives, can you navigate to the USB management platform and click remove? Do they disappear after that?

If neither of these options work, the only proven solution I've had was to backup the computer and re-install the operating system. I don't know that it's a virus. I haven't seen any viruses with that type of signature but it is very possible that you need to re-install the OS anyway.