How to Create a Virtual Drive in a Flash Drive

You can create a virtual drive within your USB flash drive.

Flash drives let you save and share a variety of files, including documents and music files, with another computer without the hassle of transferring the files to a CD or DVD. You can even create a virtual drive within the root directory of the flash drive that acts like a separate physical drive. Virtual drives are ideal for large flash drives that you want to split into two drives. The virtual drive is assigned a drive letter and is automatically recognized by your computer's operating system.

Instructions

Create the Virtual Drive

1. Plug your flash drive into any available USB port on your computer. Your computer will automatically recognize the flash drive and assign it a letter.

2. Click "Start," then click "My Computer."

3. Double-click on your flash drive's icon to open the drive.

4. Right-click in the right pane of the open window. Select "New," then "New Folder."

5. Enter a name for the new folder. Press the "Enter" or "Return" key on your computer's keyboard. Leave the flash drive's dialog box open.

6. Click "Start," then "Run."

7. Enter "cmd" in the box next to the wording "Open:." Press "Enter" or "Return."

   If using Windows Vista/7, press the "Windows" and "R" keys together to open the Run dialog box. Enter "cmd" in the dialog box. Press "Enter" or "Return." A command prompt window will open.

8. Enter "cd X" with the "X" representing the drive letter of your flash drive. Press "Enter" or "Return."

9. Enter "subst (the desired drive letter you want to use for the virtual drive):(the name of the new folder you created in step 5). Enter a space after "subst," but no space before the ":". Enter a space after the ":".

10. Press "Enter" or "Return." Your virtual drive is now created. Enter "exit" at the command prompt to return to the flash drive's open dialog box.

Make the Virtual Drive Permanent

1. Click on the back arrow in the upper left-hand corner of the flash drive's open dialog box to return to the "My Computer" screen. You will see your flash drive's drive letter and the virtual drive's drive letter.

2. Click "Start," "All Programs," "Accessories," "Notepad." A blank Notepad document will open.

3. Enter "echo off" on the first line of the document. Press "Enter" or "Return." Enter "cd\" on the second line. Press "Enter" or "Return."

4. Enter "subst (the drive letter you assigned to the virtual drive):(the name of the new folder you created in step 5 of the "Creating the Virtual Drive" section). Press "Enter" or "Return."

5. Click "File," then click "Save As." Navigate to the "Windows" folder.

6. Double-click on the "system32" folder within the "Windows" folder. Enter "vdrive.bat" in the box next to the wording "File name:." Click "Save."

7. Click "File," then click "Exit" to close Notepad.

8. Click "Start," then "Run."

9. Enter "regedit" in the box next to the wording "Open:." Press "Enter" or "Return."

   If using Windows Vista/7, press the "Windows" and "R" keys together to open the Run dialog box. Enter "regedit" in the dialog box. Press "Enter" or "Return." A command prompt window will open. The Registry Editor application will open.

10. Navigate to the "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run" entry in the left pane of the Registry Editor.

11. Right-click in the pane on the right side of the "Registry Editor" screen. Click "New" when the sub-menu appears.

12. Click "String Value."

13. Enter "vdrive" in the "New Value #1" box. Press "Enter" or "Return."

14. Right-click on the "vdrive" entry. Select "Modify."

15. Enter "c:\windows\system32\vdrive.bat" in the box under the heading "Value data:." Click "OK."

16. Click the "X" in the upper-right hand corner to close the "Registry Editor" application.

17. Click "Start," "Turn off Computer," "Restart" to restart your computer. Your flash drive's virtual drive is now permanent and will not be deleted if you restart or turn off your computer.

Tips & Warnings

• Double check your Registry entries before closing the Registry Editor. Incorrect entries can cause your computer to hang up during the Windows startup process.

• If using a Mac, the operating system's Disk Utility application cannot create a virtual drive on a flash drive. The application can only create a disk image (a copy) of the flash drive.

References

• Tech Tips Geek: How to Create Virtual Drive for Any Folder

Resources

• Tech Radar: 67 Windows 7 Tips, Tricks and Secrets