Flash drives mount as network locations -- why and how do I fix it?

J

Jaxon

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Feb 21, 2012
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50
Hello,

Long time lurker and admirer around here, but this is my first time starting a new thread. I hope I have it in the right spot.

Strange thing happens when I plug a flash drive (aka thumb drive) into my work laptop -- it mounts in the "network location" field. I can still access it but no idea why it's doing this. I tried doing the typical googling for answers but couldn't find anything that resolved it.

Dell Latitude with W7 Pro x64 SP1 installed.

Thanks in advance for your help!
 
Last edited:
Drive letter conflict? Try assigning a different drive letter for the USB drive.
 
Well that partially worked, thank you.

Reassigning it to some like "W" moved it up to the devices section, but plugging in any additional items (like another flash drive) auto-mounts it back to "F" and in a network location.

No idea why it's doing that or how to stop it. Anyone have an additional ideas?

Maybe I should add:
I'm a remote employee and never connect to the office server/network unless I am physically in the office (couple times a year). These network locations came pre-mapped by the 3rd party IT company we contract with. Maybe there is a way I can remove them and stop them from mounting and therefore conflicting with the external drives I often use?
 
Unmap the network share F.
Remove the drive letter assignment for the USB drive, then unplug the drive.
Remap the network share to F.
Plug the USB drive back in.
 
Jackpot! I had to reboot after un-mapping the network locations and removing the flash drives to get things to stick. But once I did that things seem to be working as they should be.

Thanks again, Snowknight!
 
Just use a USB to Network Drive adapter. You can find them at Walmart for $4.99.
 
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