How to Hide Drives in Windows XP
If you have important files that are stored in a particular disk drive (disk partition) that you don’t want to expose it, you can hide it! Windows XP provides a utility to just that. Here is how it goes:
- Go to Start > Run > Type “diskpart”
- A dos window will appear (see below). Then type “list volume“.
- So, if you want to hide drive C, then type “select volume 2“
- Now type “remove letter C” (Note: Sometime it requires reboot.)
Diskpart will remove the letter. Windows XP is not having capabilty to identify the unkown volume.
Don’t worry, your data will remains the same. Now if you want to unhide the drive, just repeat the process. But in 4th step, instead of typing ”remove letter C”, type “assign letter C”
Comment by bai3tzash »
we hidden the drive….. but how we make come back the hidden drive?
Comment by Luke »
You can actually get software to do this for you… Its called Universal Shield – Really smart piece of software! Check it out:
http://www.download.com/
Comment by Matt »
[Comment ID #248 Will Be Quoted Here]
Read the whole tutorial…the solution is at the end of the post.
Comment by Matt »
[Comment ID #250 Will Be Quoted Here]
Thanks for the tip Luke.
Comment by Tunan »
Hi.
I have a serious problem coz few days ago i buy a IBM T30 Lap. When purchase that i find unusual hdd space of 18.2 GB. After some days i found the Disk Management & see that there is an another pertision of 1.6 GB but that was locked or hidden. Then i tryed “diskpart” formula to unlock or show that drive but i can’t. Now can any one help me with this problem? I’ll be grateful to you…
Plz help me……
Comment by Matt »
@ Tunan
Please identify first which volume is the hidden one. Then, identify the letter that assigned to that volume.
Comment by Tunan »
Thanksâ?? for your response. Iâ??m giving you 5 image links in which Iâ??ve captured the screen short that may help you to understand my problem.
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j1/Tunan/HiddenDrive1.jpg
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j1/Tunan/HiddenDrive5.jpg
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j1/Tunan/HiddenDrive4.jpg
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j1/Tunan/HiddenDrive2.jpg
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j1/Tunan/HiddenDrive3.jpg
Comment by Matt »
OK, I see…
The problem is your IBM_SERVICE volume is not hidden, but it is FAT32 formatted. I think you are booting IBM_PRELOAD volume which is NTFS system. NTFS file system cannot access FAT32 file system, that’s why you can’t see your IBM_SERVICE volume. BTW, what OS you are using?
Read here for more info:
http://www.duxcw.com/faq/win/ntfs.htm
Comment by Tunan »
Thanks’ a lot for every thing……..
I think it’s easy to find coz when look at the [Quote] sign can find it on the top of that. It’s ok Iâ??m using Xp Pro v 2002 Service P 2…..
Iâ??ve another pob that is one of my com hdd size 60gb but recently i was trying to format but it show me 9gb. Previously hdd have 4 partitions. How i will fix it?
Comment by Tunan »
I’ve 1 more prob that is, i send my cousin in US a hdd of 80gb from Bangladesh in NTFS format, but when he is trying to detect the hdd he can’t the hdd show hdd in RAW mode. Why this thing happened bcoz i check it before sending. Now how i will fix it?
Comment by Matt »
After all, I think the easiest way is do a clean format and install. Backup important stuff first!
Comment by gio »
i already hidden volume 2 but it was so happened that volume 2 was drive D.
i tried to hide volume 1 which was drive c but it doesn’t worked out…
please help me…
Comment by gio »
hi. . .
can i do put password on my hard drive?
i just wanted to make it private. . .
help me please. . . this site was so cool…..
thanks a lot. . .
Comment by Tunan »
From Windows XP Help & Support:
To make your folders private
Open My Computer.
Double-click the drive where Windows is installed (usually drive (C:), unless you have more than one drive on your computer).
If the contents of the drive are hidden, under System Tasks, click Show the contents of this drive.
Double-click the Documents and Settings folder.
Double-click your user folder.
Right-click any folder in your user profile, and then click Properties.
On the Sharing tab, select the Make this folder private so that only I have access to it check box.
Notes
To open My Computer, click Start, and then click My Computer.
This option is only available for folders included in your user profile. Folders in your user profile include My Documents and its subfolders, Desktop, Start Menu, Cookies, and Favorites. If you do not make these folders private, they are available to everyone who uses your computer.
When you make a folder private, all of its subfolders are private as well. For example, when you make My Documents private, you also make My Music and My Pictures private. When you share a folder, you also share all of its subfolders unless you make them private.
You cannot make your folders private if your drive is not formatted as NTFS.
Comment by Tunan »
[Comment ID #5612 Will Be Quoted Here]
You can also try this software “Hide & Protect any drives”
http://www.softstack.com/
http://www.softstack.com/download/hidedrv.zip
Enjoy
Comment by Tunan »
[Comment ID #5642 Will Be Quoted Here]
You may also use this software.
http://www.softstack.com/download/hidedrv.zip
Comment by gio »
hello . . .
can i ask if there’s some other way disabling or removing deepfreeze using DOS???
thanks a lot . . . !