In a battle that is so ancient most no longer consider it an issue, Microsoft has gone away with the safe removal for USB flash drives. The original suggestion by Microsoft was to eliminate data lose if a user removed the drive before properly ejecting it.
Nine out of ten times you wouldn’t lose data, unless a large file was being transferred, but it’s nice to see Microsoft adjust to user habits.
The update which includes this change is Windows 10 v v1809. If you are not sure the Windows version you have, simply right click the Windows icon in the bottom left of your screen and select “System“
From the resultant page, you can view the version of your OS.
If you have found this post, chances are you are trying to delete and keep the “System Volume Information” folder off your flash drive.
UPDATE: Thank you to a reader sending in additional information, we now have a solution that is universal to all PCs. You will never get the “There’s a problem with this drive. Scan the drive now to fix it” message. To get this universal fix, scroll to the bottom of this message and look for “Updated Solution.”
I will venture to say, there are probably five reasons why you are trying to remove this directory (probably more):
You have a SmartTV or stereo in your car and the device is showing this folder, and often times, is the default start location to resume play, so you want to remove it.
A binary verification utility is failing and it shows this folder as the source of inconsistency.
The “Disk needs to be scanned and repaired message” keeps popping up when you remove a drive without using the Eject function from Windows. You are now going crazy and want to stop that message forever.
A virus software utility is indicating this folder has a potential problem (smart hackers could stick their code in here)
You are performing some kind of USB duplication process and this folder continues to be a problem, therefore you want to remove it.
Go ahead and skim down this article if you want to get right to the instructions. For now, I’m going to take some time to explain what this folder is. Knowledge is power, and maybe the reason for why it’s there, will deter you from wanting to delete it.
For any disk or storage device connected to Windows will have the “System Volume Information” folder. This is a hidden system file, so if you don’t see it, that is the reason why. You can see this file when you turn on “See Hidden Files” in your view
properties settings.
The System Volume Information folder contains two files. The two files are meant for setting restore points and indexing for what is on the drive. Windows is trying to help you if and when you need to search the device for data.
The two files are the IndexerVolumeGuid and WPSettings.dat file. The indexer file assigns a unique identifier (GUID, Global Unique ID) to the drive. The indexing service examines the files so when you connect the drive to the computer in the future, Windows checks the identifier and knows which search database to associate with the drive.
WPSettings.dat file is used for Windows Phone’s Storage settings. If you are dealing with a hard drive, this could be a good thing, if dealing with a flash drive, you don’t need it. I haven’t met a person yet who backed up their phone data to a USB stick.
If you are still on the fence about whether you should remove this folder or not, think about this: If you are dealing with a hard drive with an operating system, don’t delete it. If you are dealing with mass storage drives, like a USB flash drive, you can remove it with little fear something bad will happen.
So how do you remove this folder?
How do you keep from this folder coming back?
The solution is a two-step process. The first step will be disabling the indexing and thus, ask Windows not to put the folder on the drive.
The second step is telling Windows not to start this indexing again once the computer has been restarted.
Keep in mind, if Windows doesn’t see the System Volume Information folder, it will try to write it every time the device is connected, to any Windows computer. This last sentence is an important point.
Let’s begin.
If you have the System Volume Information folder on your device, let us remove it right now. Connect the USB to your computer. Double click the drive letter of the USB and in the Explorer window type CMD. Click Enter.
This will get you to the command prompt to address that specific device.
Now that we are in the command prompt for that drive (note the drive letter in the command window is the same drive letter as your USB in the computer). Let us use syntax to remove the folder. Since the folder cannot be deleted using your keyboard, the command line is the only way.
Type: rmdir “system volume information” /s /q
Now click Enter. That’s it, you are done, files removed!
Moving along, let us set up your computer so the System Volume Information never appears again on your devices
Press the Windows key + R at the same time (this is to Run
a Windows service)
In the field type “gpedit.msc” this is for Group Policy Edit for Microsoft. We are going to edit a Group Policy which affects your entire computer, regardless of the user logged in. Click OK.
Navigate to: Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Search
On the right side of your screen, under Search, look for:
Do not allow locations on removable drives to be added to libraries. Once you see this sentence, double click the sentence, so you may edit that Group Policy.
Select the radial button “Enabled” and click Apply and then click OK.
Step-one is now complete, you have turned off indexing to removable drives. The next step is to insure this indexing doesn’t start back up again the next time you boot up the PC.
Press the Windows key + R at the same time (this is to
Run a Windows service)
In the field type “services.msc” this is for Windows Start Up services when the PC is turned on. We are going to edit a service policy. Click OK.
Scroll down until you see Windows Search. Double click that selection.
On the first tab, General, you will see “Startup Type:“
Here you want to select “Disable“
Once that is selected, click Apply and click OK.
You
are all set. The System Volume Information folder will no longer appear on any devices for THIS computer.
I would reboot your PC just for safe measure.
Tip: If you want to eliminate the System Volume Information folder to be added to your USB drives, you need to write protect the USB at the hardware level. Nexcopy has Lock License USB sticks that can write protect the drive after your data load.
Bonus: If you have Windows Home edition, the gpedit.msc service is not available. You need to install a small utility to allow edits of group policy. Here is a good reference article for that.
TIP: If the USB drive is formatted as NTFS you will get an “Access Denied” message in the command prompt when pushing command: rmdir “system volume information” /s /q. We have not figure out a way to bypass this. If you know, please shoot us an email. gmo (at) getusb (dot) info and we can update this post // #teamwork
Updated Solution
Connect your USB drive to the PC and note what drive letter the OS gives the device. In the example immediately below we are using drive letter F in our example. So be sure to swap out that portion for any part of the instructions if your OS gave a different drive letter.
Now perform the following steps:
In the Search console area type “cmd” and click enter to get to the command prompt.
Type cd/ and click Enter, so you can get to the root of the F drive.
Type rmdir “System Volume Information” /s /q and click Enter
Type fsutil file createnew “F:\System Volume Information” 0 and click Enter
Type chkdsk F: /f and click Enter (remember my capital F is the drive letter, yours might be different.
So what did we do?
We made the Directory System Volume Information to be zero bytes. By doing this, it makes the directory (folder) read-only so that Windows will not try to overwrite or update that directory on the flash drive.
When importing or exporting USB flash drives in the United States you will want to use this Harmonization Code to help with customs paperwork.
The Harmonization Code is tariff nomenclature for internationally trade which defines names and numbers assigned to traded products. The HS Code System came into effect in 1988 and has since been developed and maintained by the World Customs Organization (WCO), based in Brussels, Belgium. There are over 200 countries which participate in this program.
The HS Code for a USB flash drive is: 8523.51.0000
In the event your freight forwarder or delivery service tells you that an ECCN is needed to ship USB flash drives and is required to complete the Automated Export System (AES) or other documentation then please give them the above information and it should all work out.
ECCN stands for Export Control Classification Number. An ECCN is an alpha-numeric classification used in the Commerce Control List to identify items for export control purposes.
Using Windows 10, you can partition a USB flash drive into multiple partitions. The process is not difficult, you simply follow some easy steps. This tutorial will partition the drive so that your device is assigned multiple drive letters when connected to the computer.
This partition process is not done at the USB controller level; or said another way, done at the hardware level. This USB partition process, for a lack of better terms, is done at the software level. What does this mean for you? It means the partitions can be wiped off the drive and full capacity of the USB flash drive can be restored.
When a USB stick is partitioned at the controller level, or at the hardware level, there is no way to reverse the partition. The multi-partition drive is permanent. At the end of this tutorial is the solution for a hardware based partition solution.
So let’s get started.
How to partition a USB flash drive in Windows 10:
Connect the USB flash drive to your Windows 10 machine. Be sure there is nothing valuable on the USB as this process will remove all content from the drive.
Right Click the Windows icon and select Disk Management.
The Disk Management window will appear with all the connected devices. Select your USB flash drive by clicking one time. By selecting your flash drive, it will allow Windows to apply the partition to that device.
Whether you’re formatting an internal drive, external drive, or USB flash drive, Windows makes it possible to choose between NTFS and exFAT formats. In this guide, we’ll go over the simple steps to formatting a USB drive and which format is best for certain situations.
exFAT is a file system optimized specifically for flash drives. Introduced in 2006, it’s designed to be a lightweight file system like FAT32 without the extra features of NTFS and without the FAT32 limitations. exFAT has very large file size and partition size limits so files larger than 4GB a piece can be stored on a flash drive formatted with exFAT. It makes very few unnecessary writes, and stores files throughout the drive in order to maximize the lifespan and speed up transfers.
Most of the time formatting a flash drive is a very simple decision. There are only two situations where you should take consideration on what format to use. Here are the details:
Note: This article is focused towards Windows and Mac operating systems.
The file formats available for a flash drive are:
FAT (also called FAT16)
FAT32
exFAT
NTFS
HFS (Mac only)
Flash drive manufacturers format a drive as either FAT or FAT32. Any device of 2GBs or smaller will be formatted as FAT and any USB over 2GBs will be formatted as FAT32.
These two formats are the best file system for removable drives like flash drives because they support the quick disconnect function and chances are very slim you will destroy the device or files if you unplug the USB without using the Eject function (in Windows) or Un-mount function (in Mac).
The one huge limitation with FAT and FAT32 is the single file size limitation. If a single file is larger than 2GBs you need to have the device as FAT32. If you have a single file bigger than 4GBs then you must use NTFS or exFAT. Typically these large files are either video files or restore image files (for restoring a computer operating system from a single image file).
Sometimes you will connect a USB to the PC and get an error message saying the drive has a GPT Protective Partition and you cannot format the drive. Here is the fix to resolve the issue:
First, what is a GPT USB stick? The GUID Partition Table (GPT) is the successor to the Master Boot Record. The MBR was created by IBM back in the early 90s. The problem with MBR is the limitation to partition table sizes which is 2 Terabytes.
Since there are no 2T USB flash drives (at the time of this post), there is no need to use GPT as your partition table.
Removing the GPT Protected Partition can be accomplished through the Windows Diskpart program.
Determine the Disk Number for the USB GPT-protected drive. To do this, perform the following:
Right-click on (My) Computer.
Choose Manage.
Select Disk Management (listed under Storage).
Look for the drive that is identified as GPT and note the Disk number (such as Disk 1).
Format USB GPT Protected Partition
Now, open a Command Window. From the command prompt, type diskpart and press Enter.
The diskpart prompt will open.
From the diskpart prompt, type list disk and press Enter. A list of disks will appear in a text format. You will return to the diskpart prompt.
From the diskpart prompt, type select disk disknumber (in this example from the screen shot above, you would type select disk 1)and press Enter. A message appears saying that the disk is selected. You will return to the diskpart prompt.
From the diskpart prompt, type clean and press Enter. At this point the drive’s partition and signature a removed. You will return to the diskpart prompt.
From the diskpart prompt, type exit and press Enter. Type exit once more to close the Command Window.
There are two ways to make a USB stick read only. One method will make the USB read-only in anything it is connected to, so you could say this is a universal way of making a flash drive write protected.
The other way is a PC specific solution where some registry edits are required to any computer the USB flash drive is connected to.
When we say 100% permanent, this means the USB stick is read only (write protected) on all devices, whether it be computers like a Mac, Windows PC, Linux box or non-processor based products like a car stereo. This permanent solution also means the status of the drive cannot be changed. The other method flags a USB device to be read only in relationship to the PC it is connected to so that whenever that USB stick is connected to that computer, it makes the USB read only and blocks all write commands to the device.
Most times an IT manager or content owner wants the USB stick to be read only so the files cannot be deleted or formatted off the drive. Another reason for making a USB read only is for the original files to remain the same and blocks the ability for files to be changed or manipulated. Finally, it’s smart to have USBs read only so that virus’ don’t jump onto the drive and possibly spread to other computers.
Let us start with the less permanent way because it’s easier to do and doesn’t require any specific hardware.
You will need a Windows7 machine or higher. The Windows7 machine will have DiskPart utility which allows us to perform all sorts of cool things to flash drives, like setting write protection.
Connect the USB to your Windows computer.
To begin, go to your Windows Start and in the Search Field type cmd
This will run your Command prompt.
Next, you will want to get to the C root of the Command prompt and if you are signed in as a user you can simply type cd\ this will get you back to the root of the C drive.
Type DISKPART
Type LIST DISK
Now you will need to find the USB stick connected to your PC. Most likely it’s DISK 1
This is a great video that explains how flash memory works. Granted, the video is very technical but does work through the concept of reading and writing data to flash. So if you have the 17 minutes to use, I suggest giving this a watch. The video does cover SLC, MLC and TLC memory and how each of these technologies read and write with the different layers of a floating gate device like NAND.
Source: YouTube.
Continue Reading
Is Checksum or CRC better for checking data written to USB flash drives?
This post is to give the general user an idea of what verification method is better for writing data to a flash drive. There are reference links at the bottom of this post which dive much deeper into the two methods of verification if this simple overview is not enough.
The short answer is Cyclical Redundancy Check or CRC is the best method for checking data written to a USB flash drive.
Many believe a checksum is the best method to verify data written to a flash drive (most popular is MD5). I believe this is favored because it is easier to understand how the verification works, and also easier to implement. However, there are flaws in checksum verification and therefore not suitable for verification of data written to a flash drive.
What is the difference between Checksum and CRC verification? The checksum method uses addition in its math calculations to check whether all data was written correctly. CRC uses long division in its math calculations to check whether all data was written correctly. It is worth noting I am talking about binary long division, not the school-yard long division you so fondly remember.
Checksum methods will calculate the total bits in a packet of data and include that total checksum amount when the data is sent over communication lines. The receiver will then look at the packet, read the checksum value and then perform the same calculation to make sure everything adds up. If the calculation on the receiver’s end matches the value passed in the packet, all is good. The problem is a high probability that somewhere between the sender and receiver the bits of data are changed, corrupted or swapped yet still turn a correct checksum value after calculation on the receiving end.
Minecraft has taken on a life of it’s own. From 5 year old kids being obsessed with Minecraft to adults making movie trailers it’s a strange little obsession for digital lego’s that look like CAD drawings.
Either way, you might find this post useful for how to make a portable Minecraft USB stick. With a portable version of Minecraft you can now play the game anywhere, school, library, work, you name it.
This is how you do it:
(Download Portable Minecaft rar now)
Download portabal_minecraft.rar
Extract Minecraft folder to Memory stick *Need program to extract .rar file, just Google “extract rar”
Open the Run.exe
Log into your Minecraft account and let it update for you
That’s it!
The resultant USB will have several items in the root of the USB.
.minecraft folder with all your assets
Minecraft exe file which is the program
Start.bin file, which generates Minecaft when you start
The Alesis IO Dock is a great product for iPad musicians – this small hack makes it even greater. It overcomes one limitation of the IO Dock: You can’t simply hook it to a USB hub. So I decided to build in an additional hub – which allows me to hook up additional class-compliant interfaces like my M-Audio Axiom master keyboard, and power them via the hub.
Yes, it works. No, it hasn’t been thoroughly tested yet. So try at your own risk.
Full Tutorial (nice)
Continue Reading
Minecraft has taken on a life of it’s own. From 5 year old kids being obsessed with Minecraft to adults making movie trailers it’s a strange little obsession for digital lego’s that look like CAD drawings.
Either way, you might find this post useful for how to make a portable Minecraft USB stick. With a portable version of Minecraft you can now play the game anywhere, school, library, work, you name it.
This is how you do it:
(
