VmWare Virtual Machine has 2 hard drives, 3 File Explorer entries


Kim Parker

Well-known member
Local time
3:45 AM
Posts
37
OS
Windows 10 physical Windows 11 virtual
Have been making virtual machines with a single (virtual) hard drive. Experimented with adding a 2nd virtual drive. Worked like it should, can copy files.

The problem is, the 2nd drive is repeated.
I now have C: (once), D: (once) the virtual CD Rom that has VMware tools, and E: that is the added 2nd drive is there twice.

Whatever I put in the topmost E: drive is repeated in the other. How and why is this happening? Is there a way to keep it from happening? If now, is there a way to fix?
Thanks
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 physical Windows 11 virtual
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built
    CPU
    12
    Motherboard
    Asus
    Memory
    128
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia
    Screen Resolution
    1360x768
    Hard Drives
    2
    PSU
    850
    Case
    Cooler Master
    Cooling
    fans
    Keyboard
    ergonomic
    Mouse
    wired
    Browser
    several
    Antivirus
    abast
Could you open Disk Management within the VM and grab a screenshot of what it is that you are seeing?
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Home Built
    CPU
    Intel i7-11700K
    Motherboard
    ASUS Prime Z590-A
    Memory
    128GB Crucial Ballistix 3200MHz DRAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    No GPU - CPU graphics only (for now)
    Sound Card
    Realtek (on motherboard)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP Envy 32
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1440
    Hard Drives
    1 x 1TB NVMe Gen 4 x 4 SSD
    1 x 2TB NVMe Gen 3 x 4 SSD
    2 x 512GB 2.5" SSDs
    2 x 8TB HD
    PSU
    Corsair HX850i
    Case
    Corsair iCue 5000X RGB
    Cooling
    Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black cooler + 10 case fans
    Keyboard
    CODE backlit mechanical keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1Gb Up / 1 Gb Down
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    Additional options installed:
    WiFi 6E PCIe adapter
    ASUS ThunderboltEX 4 PCIe adapter
  • Operating System
    Win11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 2
    CPU
    Intel i7-1255U
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC3306-CG codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    13.3-inch IPS Display
    Screen Resolution
    WQXGA (2560 x 1600)
    Hard Drives
    2 TB 4 x 4 NVMe SSD
    PSU
    USB-C / Thunderbolt 4 Power / Charging
    Mouse
    Buttonless Glass Precision Touchpad
    Keyboard
    Backlit, spill resistant keyboard
    Internet Speed
    1Gb Up / 1Gb Down
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    WiFi 6e / Bluetooth 5.1 / Facial Recognition / Fingerprint Sensor / ToF (Time of Flight) Human Presence Sensor
Here is what Disk Management of the virtual shows. It is in File Explorer that the added 2nd virtual drive is repeated
 

Attachments

  • sc.dm.2.drives.jpg
    sc.dm.2.drives.jpg
    73.3 KB · Views: 5

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 physical Windows 11 virtual
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built
    CPU
    12
    Motherboard
    Asus
    Memory
    128
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia
    Screen Resolution
    1360x768
    Hard Drives
    2
    PSU
    850
    Case
    Cooler Master
    Cooling
    fans
    Keyboard
    ergonomic
    Mouse
    wired
    Browser
    several
    Antivirus
    abast
And here is what shows in File Explorer
 

Attachments

  • sc.vm.2drives.jpg
    sc.vm.2drives.jpg
    25.4 KB · Views: 4

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 physical Windows 11 virtual
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built
    CPU
    12
    Motherboard
    Asus
    Memory
    128
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia
    Screen Resolution
    1360x768
    Hard Drives
    2
    PSU
    850
    Case
    Cooler Master
    Cooling
    fans
    Keyboard
    ergonomic
    Mouse
    wired
    Browser
    several
    Antivirus
    abast
Your drive E: is configured as removeable.
The Windows File explorer shows all removeables twice
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W10 pro 21H1
@syntoh is correct. Here is my usb drive. It's always been shown twice in left pane of explorer.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot 2023-01-09 070338.jpg
    Screenshot 2023-01-09 070338.jpg
    36.9 KB · Views: 3

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2 22631.3296
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 7080
    CPU
    i9-10900 10 core 20 threads
    Motherboard
    DELL 0J37VM
    Memory
    32 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    none-Intel UHD Graphics 630
    Sound Card
    Integrated Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1tb Solidigm m.2 +256gb ssd+512 gb usb m.2 sata
    PSU
    500w
    Case
    MT
    Cooling
    Dell Premium
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Internet Speed
    so slow I'm too embarrassed to tell
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender+MWB Premium
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 22H2 19045.3930
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 9020
    CPU
    i7-4770
    Memory
    24 gb
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    256 gb Toshiba BG4 M.2 NVE SSB and 1 tb hdd
    PSU
    500w
    Case
    MT
    Cooling
    Dell factory
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Internet Speed
    still not telling
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender+MWB Premium
VM Workstation selected the drives, so I let it. When creating VM with more than one hard drive how would I select so the drives aren't removable? VMWare chose both as nvme.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 physical Windows 11 virtual
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built
    CPU
    12
    Motherboard
    Asus
    Memory
    128
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia
    Screen Resolution
    1360x768
    Hard Drives
    2
    PSU
    850
    Case
    Cooler Master
    Cooling
    fans
    Keyboard
    ergonomic
    Mouse
    wired
    Browser
    several
    Antivirus
    abast

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2 22631.3296
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 7080
    CPU
    i9-10900 10 core 20 threads
    Motherboard
    DELL 0J37VM
    Memory
    32 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    none-Intel UHD Graphics 630
    Sound Card
    Integrated Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1tb Solidigm m.2 +256gb ssd+512 gb usb m.2 sata
    PSU
    500w
    Case
    MT
    Cooling
    Dell Premium
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Internet Speed
    so slow I'm too embarrassed to tell
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender+MWB Premium
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 22H2 19045.3930
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 9020
    CPU
    i7-4770
    Memory
    24 gb
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    256 gb Toshiba BG4 M.2 NVE SSB and 1 tb hdd
    PSU
    500w
    Case
    MT
    Cooling
    Dell factory
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Internet Speed
    still not telling
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender+MWB Premium
As this is default behavior, it has never bothered me. You might see if this will help you. I have not tried so this is not a recommendation. Just passing on information. I would certainly backup the registry key first. USB Drive Appearing Twice In Navigation Pane Of Windows 10/11 File Explorer
I have edited the (physical) Windows registry before when an external drive appeared twice. Just searching now for VmWare VM, and there is a fix by editing a couple files in the virtual machine. One of the links referred to the physical install, then said something about not being the same. Wish I would have kept that, now to find it again.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 physical Windows 11 virtual
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built
    CPU
    12
    Motherboard
    Asus
    Memory
    128
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia
    Screen Resolution
    1360x768
    Hard Drives
    2
    PSU
    850
    Case
    Cooler Master
    Cooling
    fans
    Keyboard
    ergonomic
    Mouse
    wired
    Browser
    several
    Antivirus
    abast
As this is default behavior, it has never bothered me. You might see if this will help you. I have not tried so this is not a recommendation. Just passing on information. I would certainly backup the registry key first. USB Drive Appearing Twice In Navigation Pane Of Windows 10/11 File Explorer
Just tried the link you gave and it and it worked! Thank you so much. I took the advice of one of the comments and renamed the key inside the brackets with an .OLD extension. Didn't realize at first that I had to use a rename, but after I found that it was named with .OLD (rather than deleting. Very glad I didn't have to use the editing vmware files from the links I had found. Didn't get that at all.

Thank you so much again, very easy to do and it works.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 physical Windows 11 virtual
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built
    CPU
    12
    Motherboard
    Asus
    Memory
    128
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia
    Screen Resolution
    1360x768
    Hard Drives
    2
    PSU
    850
    Case
    Cooler Master
    Cooling
    fans
    Keyboard
    ergonomic
    Mouse
    wired
    Browser
    several
    Antivirus
    abast
Just tried the link you gave and it and it worked! Thank you so much. I took the advice of one of the comments and renamed the key inside the brackets with an .OLD extension. Didn't realize at first that I had to use a rename, but after I found that it was named with .OLD (rather than deleting. Very glad I didn't have to use the editing vmware files from the links I had found. Didn't get that at all.

Thank you so much again, very easy to do and it works.
Not sure how easy it is with VMWare but I'd configure a VM with a small virtual disk (for "Virtual boot" and the OS while assigning a physical partition or better a physical disk as a 2nd disk. The advantage of that is then you use the real native disk OS I/O rather than virtual I/O which can lead to bottlenecks. Virtual Disk I/O is often a performance problem on VM's which is why commercial servers etc try and "pass thru" real hardware to the VM to achieve almost native performance.

With a Linux VM it's even easier as all you need to do is have a tiny grub / boot "Virtual partition" and the rest on a physical disk. The Grub / boot partition only needs to be around 100 MB !!!!.

This does actually work using a Windows host running VMWare (although these days unless running XP as a VM I'd choose HYPER-V as a matter of course as it is a solid performer these days (and of course Free if you have W11 Pro and above).

Cheers
jimbo
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows XP,7,10,11 Linux Arch Linux
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    2 X Intel i7
Found a registry hack.
This must be happening a lot. Believe it or not I found a registry hack from answers.microsoft. com that automagically fixes duolicates in Explorer. Not only that, it can restore to the original if wanted. It is a little more than halfway down the page of this link.

"Redirecting"

Hi Clifford,
Please try the REG file method (remove-duplicate-drives.zip)
Note that you need to log off and log back into your account for the change to take effect.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 physical Windows 11 virtual
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built
    CPU
    12
    Motherboard
    Asus
    Memory
    128
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia
    Screen Resolution
    1360x768
    Hard Drives
    2
    PSU
    850
    Case
    Cooler Master
    Cooling
    fans
    Keyboard
    ergonomic
    Mouse
    wired
    Browser
    several
    Antivirus
    abast
Not sure how easy it is with VMWare but I'd configure a VM with a small virtual disk (for "Virtual boot" and the OS while assigning a physical partition or better a physical disk as a 2nd disk. The advantage of that is then you use the real native disk OS I/O rather than virtual I/O which can lead to bottlenecks. Virtual Disk I/O is often a performance problem on VM's which is why commercial servers etc try and "pass thru" real hardware to the VM to achieve almost native performance.

With a Linux VM it's even easier as all you need to do is have a tiny grub / boot "Virtual partition" and the rest on a physical disk. The Grub / boot partition only needs to be around 100 MB !!!!.

This does actually work using a Windows host running VMWare (although these days unless running XP as a VM I'd choose HYPER-V as a matter of course as it is a solid performer these days (and of course Free if you have W11 Pro and above).

Cheers
jimbo
I have found that when creating a VMware Workstation virtual, it works for me to start with the default 60 gigs for the operating system, then when Windows is installed I add a 2nd virtual 100 gig hard drive (not pre-allocated) for my files and testing downloads to see if I like before install on something more permanent. I have been installing Windows on that great little Sandisk SSD keyhole portable, then I put my virtuals on that. I use my physical basically to boot up to the Sandisk, and as a holder for my virtuals.

In the past before I found VM my physical would get wear and tear in the registry, and I would try and patch it together without much success and there we were limping along. The SSD/ virtuals are so great, if anything causes trouble I just delete the vm. Like that Voodoo Anti-Virus that I didn't continue with and now every single time I boot up I have to go thru multiple clicks to get rid of the "buy a license now!"

My last 2 virtuals I made, one didn't have the multiple explorer listing and one did. Tried to edit the registry first, to delete the key, didn't work. Then tried the registry hack (as I posted above) and it worked perfectly. So I think I'm all set :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 physical Windows 11 virtual
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built
    CPU
    12
    Motherboard
    Asus
    Memory
    128
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia
    Screen Resolution
    1360x768
    Hard Drives
    2
    PSU
    850
    Case
    Cooler Master
    Cooling
    fans
    Keyboard
    ergonomic
    Mouse
    wired
    Browser
    several
    Antivirus
    abast

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