Hi All, I am unable to figure out where this drive came from. I am worried it is a virus that I cannot figure out how to remove.

[badidea]

Hi All,

I am unable to figure out where this drive came from. I am worried it is a virus that I cannot figure out how to remove.

[IMG alt=“r/pchelp - Random Drive Has Appeared on my PC (Unable to Remove or Access) (Potential Virus?)”]https://preview.redd.it/q7l25t9fydm7...2fe74466b8cdc5
As you can see, Drive E has appeared out of nowhere. Additionally two files located in E.

[IMG alt=“r/pchelp - Random Drive Has Appeared on my PC (Unable to Remove or Access) (Potential Virus?)”]https://preview.redd.it/snjaowejydm7...5892fae1148e56
This drive does not appear in disk management for removal. Also there are no external devices connected.

[IMG alt=“r/pchelp - Random Drive Has Appeared on my PC (Unable to Remove or Access) (Potential Virus?)”]https://preview.redd.it/95hofwgnydm7...5008999151f0b2

[IMG alt=“r/pchelp - Random Drive Has Appeared on my PC (Unable to Remove or Access) (Potential Virus?)”]https://preview.redd.it/hdo95yroydm7...c845db88e4b512
Any ideas how I might fix? Would really appreciate the feedback.

Thanks!

[Bruce]

do you have any USB storage devices connected?
any network attached devices?
any media devices like a smart TV, media player, etc on the same network as the PC?
what about other PC’s with shared folders?

curios as to why it show as E:\ in File Explorer and as V:\ in Disk Management.
is it a logical drive, like for a DVD or CD? have you mounted an ISO image?

can you right click and Format it or Disconnect or Unmount?
does it still show after a reboot?
what about if you boot into Safe Mode?

[badidea]

do you have any USB storage devices connected?
any network attached devices?
any media devices like a smart TV, media player, etc on the same network as the PC?
what about other PC’s with shared folders?

curios as to why it show as E:\ in File Explorer and as V:\ in Disk Management.
is it a logical drive, like for a DVD or CD? have you mounted an ISO image?

can you right click and Format it or Disconnect or Unmount?
does it still show after a reboot?
what about if you boot into Safe Mode?

There are no USB storage devices connected. As far as I can tell there are no network devices either.

V:/ is is something completely different, as I have an SSD and a HDD. I have no idea what E:/ is.

I do not have a disc drive on this PC.

Rebooting does not seem to help, I will try safe mode.

[badidea]

There are no USB storage devices connected. As far as I can tell there are no network devices either.

V:/ is is something completely different, as I have an SSD and a HDD. I have no idea what E:/ is.

I do not have a disc drive on this PC.

Rebooting does not seem to help, I will try safe mode.

Safe mode still showed the E:/ drive

[Rustys]

Try this and let us know if it helps.

In Windows Explorer click on File
Change Folder and Search Options
Look towards the bottom for Privacy
Click on Clear
Click OK
May need to close and reopen

EDITED:

Did you manually change the drive letter to V?

[badidea]

Try this and let us know if it helps.

In Windows Explorer click on File
Change Folder and Search Options
Look towards the bottom for Privacy
Click on Clear
Click OK
May need to close and reopen

EDITED:

Did you manually change the drive letter to V?

This seemed to make the drive and those files disappear. Thanks. My concern was that they were malware on my pc. Could they still be located?

I did indeed change the HDD to V. This is where I house larger files like games. Windows is installed on my SSD.

EDIT: I have no idea where the “E” drive came from. I had knowledge of the other two (SSD & HDD) which is why I was concerned.

[Rustys]

You were looking under Quick Access which where what ever you accessed (file, folder, drive) is kept for quick access.

Since you changed the drive letter for E to V it kept it there and the blue ? was due to the fact that the system could not locate it.

EDITED:
https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/q/quick-access.htm
Quick access is an abbreviated form of the Quick Access Toolbar in Microsoft Word, Excel, and other Microsoft Office products. 2. Quick access refers to a location in the Windows 10 File Explorer that shows all the recently opened files and folders and pinned folders.