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Possible Duplicate:
How do I disable "you need to format this disk" message in Windows Vista/7?

I have a USB drive. The entire device is encrypted with TrueCrypt. When I plug in the drive, Windows 7, understandably, doesn't realize the drive has a file system. So Windows always offers "You need to format the disk in drive G: before you can use it. Do you want to format it?" I dismiss this dialog, and mount the drive with TrueCrypt and everything is fine.

The problem is, a. that dialog is annoying and b. I'm concerned that one of these days I'm going to accidentally hit the Format button and blow away my encrypted drive.

Is there a way to tell Windows 7 to NEVER offer to format a drive it does not recognize?

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mhenry1384
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1 Answers1

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Look at www.truecrypt.org/faq search for the question 'When I plug in my encrypted USB flash drive, Windows asks me if I want to format it. Is there a way to prevent that?'

Edit 1

Ok. Quoting truecrypt faq:

When I plug in my encrypted USB flash drive, Windows asks me if I want to format it. Is there a way to prevent that?

Yes, but you will need to remove the drive letter assigned to the device. For information on how to do so, see the question 'I encrypted a non-system partition, but its original drive letter is still visible in the 'My Computer' list.'

to free the drive letter follow these steps:

  1. Right-click the 'Computer' (or 'My Computer') icon on your desktop or in the Start Menu and select Manage. The 'Computer Management' window should appear.

  2. From the list on the left, select 'Disk Management' (within the Storage sub-tree).

  3. Right-click the encrypted partition/device and select Change Drive Letter and Paths.

  4. Click Remove.

  5. If Windows prompts you to confirm the action, click Yes.

Edit 2

I am on linux laptop now, so I cannot try it myself, but maybe switching off Autoplay could help.

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