Making a non viewable Drive in XP

[jeffpoulsen]

Hello all,

I usually carve up a drive to have at least 3 partitions. C (where the OS is) Swap (for Page Files or Virtual Memory) and Storage (for, well, data storage) My question is how can I make the disk "Swap" not viewable or greyed out in Explorer in XP Pro? This is so that users will not be tempted to use it. But the system must still be able to write to it as it is home for Page Files. I have just started looking into this and would be thankful for any help. Thanks, Jeff

 

[kjv1611]

I think under Computer Management - Disk Management. You have the option, there, of assigning a drive letter or not. I beleive if you set it to no drive letter that it will not show up, but I'm not 100% positive as to whether it will be "invisible" in Explorer views, or whether it just won't have a drive letter.

 

[G0AOZ]

I'd have thought if you specifically assign ALL the space on that particular partition to the swapfile, then users wouldn't be able to do anything with it even if it does show up...

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[thatrenowned]

Download and install TweakUI from

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

(about half way down on the right)

After install, run it, expand 'My Computer', click on 'Drives' and untick the drive you want to be 'invisible'.

Its worth getting this app for loads of the other options it gives you as well.

 

[kjv1611]

Good point, thatrenowned. That's an invaluable tool.

 

[jeffpoulsen]

Thanks all
I have had problems with setting the whole drive for virtual memory. I usually leave a portion of the drive unused. I forgot about TweakUI. Your right it's a great tool. I will try some of these when I get back to the machine tonight. And I plan on downloading TweakUI too. Thanks again and I will post the results.

 

[thefourthwall]

Would it be easier to manage ntfs permissions for your swap partition so that users have restricted access?

-thefourthwall

 

[jeffpoulsen]

Well I still have not found a solution. It seems that you cannot remove the drive letter if it contains page files. And I downloaded TweakUI and it works for the administrator, but does not hide it from a restricted user. I gues I will have to keep trying. It seems there is a regisrty edit that takes care of what I want. If anybody has any other ideas I would be greatfull. Thanks, jeff

 

[kjv1611]

As far as "hiding" from a restricted user, you may not can do that, but you can disable teak ui. I know that, b/c they have it disabled where I work - even users with local Admin rights can't use it, only certain accounts. I guess it's a registry tweak that takes care of it - not sure.

 

[BOURBAKI]

Assuming you used Tweakui to hide the partition, the Registry Key is HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\NoDrive when logged on as the administrator. This key is actually a link to HKU\"the administrator's SID"\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\NoDrive. You need to create the same key for each user's SID e.g. HKU\"user1's SID"\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\NoDrive.

Note that this tweak does not prevent access to this drive by other means such as the Command Prompt.

Hope this helps.