The Windows registry is an essential tool for IT administrators. It stores crucial information about system hardware and software, including drive letters and drive types. Obtaining a list of drive letters and drive types from the registry can be a tedious task, but it’s an important one. Knowing the drives in use on a system is essential for troubleshooting and security reasons.
The Windows registry is a hierarchical database that stores information about the Windows operating system and its components. It is used to store user preferences, system settings, and other data. The registry is organized in keys, subkeys, and values. Keys are the top-level folders, subkeys are the folders within keys, and values are the data stored in these folders.
To get a list of drive letters and drive types from the registry, use the registry editor. This is a tool included in Windows that allows you to view, edit, and delete registry entries. To open the registry editor, click Start, type “regedit”, and then press Enter.
Once the registry editor is open, navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SYSTEM\\MountedDevices
This key contains the drive letters and drive types for each drive on the system. To view this information, double-click the key and then click each value. The value’s data will be displayed in the right pane.
The data displayed will be in binary form. To make it easier to read, use the “Decode” feature. This feature will convert the binary data into readable information.
The data displayed will be the drive letter, followed by the drive type, followed by the drive size. The drive type will be a number, and the drive size will be in bytes.
For example, if the data displayed is “\\DosDevices\\C:\\0x00000020\\00000000”, this means that drive C is a hard drive, and it is 32 bytes in size.
Once you have obtained the list of drive letters and drive types, you can use this information to troubleshoot and secure the system. For example, if a drive letter is missing, you can use this information to find out what type of drive it is and replace it. You can also use this information to ensure that all drives on the system are the same type.
In summary, obtaining a list of drive letters and drive types from the registry is an important task for IT administrators. This information is essential for troubleshooting and security purposes. To get this information, use the registry editor and navigate to the MountedDevices key. The data displayed will be in binary form, so use the “Decode” feature to convert it into readable information. With this information, you can troubleshoot and secure the system.
