Question

No drives in disk management

Asked by: aphillips

I plug in a flash disk into USB port and nothing happens.  So I went into Disk Management (Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Computer Management/Disk Management) and it showed no disks at all - just "CD-ROM 0  -  DVD  -  No Media".  There is not a single hard disk such as Disk 0 - but obviously that exists as I booted from it.

The system is a Compaq Presario 2200 running XP SP2.

I am pretty sure this is not a hardware problem as it happens with several USB drives in both USB slots.  Also a USB mouse in the same slots works fine.   Also if I boot from UBCD (Ultimate Boot CD) disk I *can* see USB drives.

It appears that there is some corruption in XP and it is not finding or reporting drives correctly.

I have checked that no system files are corrupt (dmserver.dll etc) and scanned for viruses etc.  The system did have Alureon.BF and Aluroen.gen!C spyware which I have removed.  I suspect there were other viruses on it at some time (not my computer) but it does have Avira anti-virus (and AVG).

I have tried adjusting the registry settings associated with dmserver.dll to no avail.  I suspect the problem is from lower-level software in XP that keeps track of physical hard disks (as opposed to other types of devices like optical disks), but I have no idea what that is or how to fix it.

Any ideas?

This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2009-05-03 at 21:31:35ID24376991
Tags

XP

,

Disk Management

Topic

Windows XP Operating System

Participating Experts
4
Points
500
Comments
9

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

  1. Pc not detecting Optical drives
    This morning when I booted up, I noticed that neither of my CD drives were available in windows explorer. I have two drives dvd-rw and cd-rw. The OS is w2k, AMD 1800 512mb ddr, ATI radeon 64, SBLive Plat Audgiy2, onboard USB2 450w PSU, IBM 40 ATA100. I tried to replace the ...
  2. Optical Drive Setup - DVD RW and DVD ROM
    I want to know the best setup for installing my DVD RW and DVD ROM drive. These are the only 2 optical drives on my rig. I have 1 SATA HDD connected to 1 of 2 SATA ports on my motherboard. I've encountered literature covering different set-ups yet I still can't determine w...
  3. Disappearing Optical Drive CD/DVD
    I have a Toshiba laptop (A105-S4211) with a missing optical drive. I followed the instructions for removing upperfilters and lower filters and voila, the drive reappeared after I restarted the computer. On the next restart it was gone again. I opened the registry and viewe...
  4. Optical Drive Wont Read DVD Data Disks
    I have a new HP HDX laptop with a multi-function optical drive that is capable of reading dvd, cd and blu-ray (and its capable of writing all but blu-ray). The laptop is very high spec and claims to read all types of DVD. The problem is that the optical drive will not play ...
  5. Spywares
    How to remove spyware 360 completely from a computer?

Free Tech Articles

  1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
    It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
  2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
    SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
  3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
    This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
  4. Create a Win7 Gadget
    This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
  5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
    There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
  6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
    There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

Cloud Class Webinars

  1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
    Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
  2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
    Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
  3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
    Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
  4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
    Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
  5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
    Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
  6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
    Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

Join the Community

Give a Little. Get a Lot.

Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

Join the Community

Answers

 

by: KechkaPosted on 2009-05-03 at 23:05:51ID: 24292784

The fact disk management shows blank might be:
1) A problem with your Windows services or
2) A virus/malware infection

To check your services take a look at:
http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic125357.html

Also try to check your computer with Antimalware malwarebytes.org download free trial, install update and try to clean in safe mode.

 

by: carrzkissPosted on 2009-05-03 at 23:06:14ID: 24292785

I have done some checking and I cannot find any solid information on this issue.
There is nothing in the Microsoft KB. I did how-ever find a few forums that had
Some post about it, but the people were running around in circles as to what it was
And getting the user to do the normal things.
(Scroll (or) Refresh)
And none of course worked.

So, I agree with what you posted here:
> It appears that there is some corruption in XP

It does seem that something has happened, and I suggest (Up to you)
Backup all your data and deploy a reinstall of the system.
As it is only a matter of time before something else go bad on the system, that may
Not allow you to do a backup.

If you have any Recovery Dates within the last 2 weeks, then you can try this as well.
But I strongly urge you to backup and reinstall, as if there is corruption on the system.
It was something that was there before, and it will show it's ugly head again if you do a Recovery.

Good Luck
Carrzkiss

 

by: geewillyPosted on 2009-05-03 at 23:34:39ID: 24292869

Do you have any network drives mapped?  If so disconnect them and then try.

 

by: geewillyPosted on 2009-05-03 at 23:36:11ID: 24292874

I would also uninstall then reinstall any AVG software you have.

 

by: nobusPosted on 2009-05-04 at 00:09:00ID: 24292998

some things to try :
first, you can download the latest drivers for the chipset, and reinstall it to update the USB root hubs

start>run>diskmgmt.msc      check if the usb devices show up in disk management, then run :   start>run>services.msc

In the listing look for removable storage service.
If it is set to Auto, and not started, then start it : click the Start link in the top left...

Also, in the device manager, under Universal Serial Bus>right click each root hub, and select Properties>Power Management, and uncheck "Allow Windows to turn off this device to save power".

In c:\windows\inf, look for usbstor.inf    -  If it is not there, you can copy it from another PC..When you find it, right click it and select Install

 

by: aphillipsPosted on 2009-05-04 at 00:30:39ID: 24293052

I tried a System Recovery but after I select the date on the next page when I click the "Next" button to start the recovery operation nothing happens.  The mouse cursor changes very momentarily when (the first time) I click the button but nothing further happens and it stays on that wizard page.  The "Previous" button works fine and the "Next" button is not disabled and changes in appearance when hovered and clicked (or activated using the keyboard) but nothing happens.  I have tried this with several recovery dates from a few days ago to a few months ago.

The only explanation I can think of for this is some sort of malware which is trying to prevent itself from being removed using a system restore.

It seems a reinstall of XP is the only option.  My first step was to make a backup using "Files & Settings Transfer Wizard" but when I run that the machine crashes.  A blue screen briefly pops up before it reboots.

 

by: aphillipsPosted on 2009-05-04 at 00:39:53ID: 24293095

Geewilly, there are no network drives mapped.  In my experience mapped drives do not appear in disk management, only local physical drives/partitions (even if not mounted on a drive letter), and optical drives.

 

by: aphillipsPosted on 2009-05-04 at 01:18:06ID: 24293265

Nobus, thanks for the ideas.

1. Ran diskmgmt.msc directly - same result.

2. Ran services.msc - the "Removable Storage Service" was not running (manual), so I started it and set it to run automatically.

Unfortunately, this caused no change.

[I also forgot to mention that I also did the same for the "Logical Disk Manager" service (but not "Logical Disk Manager administrator" of course) as it had also been set to manual.]

3. I unchecked "Allow Windows to turn off this device to save power" for all 4 root hubs in device manager.

Also no change.

4. I installed the usbstor.inf in the C:\Windows\INF (hidden+system) directory.

No change.

5. I rebooted just in case any of the above required that and tried again.

Still no improvement.

It looks like a reinstall of XP is the only option.

 

by: nobusPosted on 2009-05-04 at 01:20:07ID: 24293271

did you reinstall the chipset, or update it? seems to be missing..

20120131-EE-VQP-002

3 Ways to Join

30-Day Free Trial

The Experts

98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

The Experts

97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

Testimonials

"...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

Testimonials

"I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

Testimonials

"WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

Business Clients

Business Clients

In the Press

"If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

In the Press

"...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

In the Press

"where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

Business Account Plans

Loading Advertisement...