Zidric Posted March 11, 2004 Report Share Posted March 11, 2004 I have been using my USB ports alot on my computer. Lately I have had up to 4 devices plugged into them at a given time. When I go to "Unplug or Eject Hardware" most of them say "USB Mass Storage Device". Is there a way to change it to what the drive really is? I have a USB memory Stick, USB external HDD, MP3 player and it is hard to determine which drive I want to remove. I have been having to double-click on each one to get the info so I know which one to disconnect. It's been getting annoying.My camera comes up and says Fuji Film something but the rest just say USB Mass storage device. Is there a Registry key I can change that will have it say what it really is like my camera does?I searched the registry and found a key that says "DeviceDesc" and some have "LocationInformation" it might be one of these keys but I am not sure what one to edit.Thanks for the help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted March 11, 2004 Report Share Posted March 11, 2004 Welcome to Windows Forum :) Regarding your question, I believe that the descriptions given by Windows for USB (and Firewire) devices is a function of the device itself, nothing to do with Windows. The default description for a device which is a disk drive, solid state drive or whatever is "mass storage device" as Windows knows what it is from what it does but as the manufacturer has not, for whatever reason given a better definition. What I mean is that the description of your camera being "Fuji Film" is defined by the camera (or its own software) not by anything in Windows. I have a webcam which, when first plugged in on a new setup, loads the native Windows drivers and is decribed in My Computer as a "Generic 1394 Desktop camera" i.e. Windows knows what it is and loads appropriate Windows (basic) drivers. When I load its own drivers and software, that description changes to "ADS Pyro Webcam 1.1". As there aren't any drivers, other than Windows ones, for "Mass Storage Devices" and they all operate in a similar way, Windows is unable to distinguish between them.Hope that's not too confusing :unsure: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted March 11, 2004 Report Share Posted March 11, 2004 WELCOME to the forum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zidric Posted March 11, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2004 Thanks for the warm welcome.I understand that it may have to do with the driver. Since there weren't any drivers that came with my External HDD or MP3 player I guess I have to live with it. I thought there would be some Reg key to edit. When I use "Safe to remove Hardware" option and double click on "USB Mass Storage Device" is brings up the properties. The third item in the properties box lists the drive name. Even if that name replaced the "USB Mass Storage Device" name it would help out greatly.Anyone know how to change it?Thanks again for the help, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted March 12, 2004 Report Share Posted March 12, 2004 I think for the sake of two clicks of your mouse, it is better that you leave things alone.Much mischief can be caused by messing about in the mysterious regions of computers such as the registry without knowing EXACTLY what you are doing.I'm a great advocate of the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" philosophy. Your machine certainly isn't broke, there's just something there that you find a very minor inconvenience.Enjoy your computer for what it can do for you, not the computer for its own sake :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redhat Posted March 12, 2004 Report Share Posted March 12, 2004 Little info on the side...Watford Elecs do 129mb USB sticks for £26... other "superstores" that wish to remain nameless ( PC WORLD ) do the 128s' for 60 quid. the WE pack comes with usb extension cable and works with macs and linux 2.4 ^ too.http://www.savastore.co.uk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ellas Posted March 12, 2004 Report Share Posted March 12, 2004 is there not a little box to tick to show all devices connected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zidric Posted March 12, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2004 I'm a great advocate of the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" philosophy.Unfortunately I am an advocate of "If it ain't broke, fix it until it is" :rolleyes: I'll leave it alone for now, just an annoying feature. I'll probably try to find some drivers.Thanks for the help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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