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Ever since I switched SSDs and installed Windows 10 Pro in the one I'm using right now, I see a "ghost" drive (a not existent drive in gray) that only says "Insert a Disk in USB Device (F:)" when I click on it.

"ghost" drive

I tried uninstalling it with external devices managers and I can do it without any issue, but after rebooting Windows it appears again. I even tried to uninstall the USB Drivers from the Device Manager, but nothing changed. I noted that this only happens if I restart my PC with the "Restart" option. If I turn off and then on the PC the drive doesn't reappear by itself.

If I unmount it using mountvol F: /D, the drive will only be invisible (as it reappears but without a drive letter).

After several tests and after using my SD Card reader, I came to the conclusion that the "ghost drive" is just the SD Card reader doing weird things, as if I plug a SD Card it gets replaced by a normal, functional drive containing the content of my SD Card. In fact, if I extract the SD Card using the "Extract" option in Windows, the ghost drive disappears.

Disk Management:

enter image description here

What should I do?

Giacomo1968
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ruben1_PvP
  • 21

1 Answers1

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First, look for a device inadvertently left plugged into a USB port, such as µSD card reader.

If there is nothing plugged in, then test removing it from the list of USB devices that have ever been connected, which is kept in the Registry.

The free utility from Nirsoft, USBDevView, makes that simple:

USBDevView

  • Right-click a device.
  • Select whether to Disable (immediately reversible) it or Uninstall it.

There is no problem if a device is removed; Windows will jsut take a few seconds the next time that device is used to analyze it and add it back to the list.

DrMoishe Pippik
  • 37,887