Windows 10: How does the Mounted Devices Key relate USB drives to other keys

I have quite a few USB drives, more than 26. I am planning on re-installing Windows 10 on 5 PCs, and want to make up a .reg file to set drive letters and write-cache state on all drives. I have been snooping around the registry and have noticed that the mounted devices key no longer shows the volume ID for USB drives, and totally forgets all about the drive if another one claims the drive letter.

Questions:
What keys do I have to copy in order to merge back and have all Write Cache settings restored?
Will the volume ID be the same on a new installation?
What information is contained in the Data field of a GPT drive in the mounted devices key, and how does it link to the other keys that hold information about this disk?

I am currently snooping around Win10 1909 Upgrades, and I will be doing a clean 1909 install.

Ken

:)

 

How does the Mounted Devices Key relate USB drives to other keys

I have quite a few USB drives, more than 26. I am planning on re-installing Windows 10 on 5 PCs, and want to make up a .reg file to set drive letters and write-cache state on all drives. I have been snooping around the registry and have noticed that the mounted devices key no longer shows the volume ID for USB drives, and totally forgets all about the drive if another one claims the drive letter.

Questions:
What keys do I have to copy in order to merge back and have all Write Cache settings restored?
Will the volume ID be the same on a new installation?
What information is contained in the Data field of a GPT drive in the mounted devices key, and how does it link to the other keys that hold information about this disk?

I am currently snooping around Win10 1909 Upgrades, and I will be doing a clean 1909 install.

Ken

 

Got VISTA? Want to use READYBOOST with a regular USB KEY?

well, I dont know if this was covered here before or not. But after seeing the new OCZ readyboost available FLASH DRIVE, I decided to see if you can just us a regular USB key. Turns out you can.... Now I didnt write this up, just found it using google. Just figured I would pass it on.



ReadyBoost requirements for USB keys are as follows:


The USB Key must be at least USB 2.0.
The device must be able to do 3.5 MB/s for 4 KB random reads uniformly across the entire device and 2.5 MB/s for 512 KB random writes uniformly across the device.
The USB Key has to have at least 64mb of free space.

If your USB key is at least USB 2.0, but is rated slower for the random reads and writes required to use ReadyBoost, more than likely you have seen this message:





If so, plug in the USB Key, and cancel Autoplay if it pops up.

Click on Start button, and select COMPUTER. After Windows Explorer opens, in the right window pane find the USB Key you want to use.

Right click and select Properties, then select the ReadyBoost tab and uncheck Stop retesting this device when I plug it in.



Click OK and safely unmount the USB Key from your Computer.

Before Proceeding - the next step includes exporting the registry key to use as a backup if needed. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP. As a safe guard, you may want to create a System Restore point when making configuration changes to your System.

Open the Registry (click on the Start button and type Regedit in the Run field).

Navigate to:
HKLM (Local Machine) \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \ EMDgmt.
Right click on EMDgmt and select Export to back up the Key to a location on your Computer (you may also want to copy to a CD or USB drive that can be accessed if needed).





Under EMDMgmt will list all the USB devices that have been connected to your Computer. Select the USB Key you want to use with ReadyBoost and click once on it (in this example I have selected the FIRELITE USB drive).

In the right window pane, modify the following values:

- Double click on Device Status and change the Value Data to 2 then click OK.
- Double click on ReadSpeedKBs and change the Value Data to 1000 then click OK. (after clicking OK, the value may be displayed as Decimal - 4096)
- double click on WriteSpeedKBs and change the Value Data to 1000 then click OK. (after clicking OK, the value may be displayed as Decimal - 4096)





Close the Registry when completed.

Plug your USB Key back in to your Computer, cancel Autoplay if it pops up, and go to Start \ COMPUTER and find the USB Key. Right click and select Properties, then select the ReadyBoost tab and you should now be able to use it with ReadyBoost.





Keep in mind, ReadyBoost benefit is to only enhance performance for random access reads and is used as a read-ahead cache program.

Enabling USB Keys that is rated slower than the specification required by ReadyBoost may not give you the performance boost you are looking for. Also if your PC is Dual Core and has 2Gigs or more RAM, you may not notice any performance boost when using ReadyBoost.

As always test first. Your mileage will vary.

 

Window 10 Recognizes USB devices but does not mount it with a drive letter.

Press Windows key + X

Click Device Manager

Expand Disk Drives

Right click the USB if its listed there

Click Uninstall

Exit Device Manager then restart.