Hitachimicrodrivefilter

How to Use Hitachi Microdrive Filter Driver to Make Your USB Flash Drive a Fixed Disk

Do you want to partition your USB flash drive or SD card into multiple volumes? Do you want to access all the partitions of your removable media in Windows? If yes, then you need to change the way Windows recognizes your USB flash drive or SD card. By default, Windows identifies all the USB flash drives and SD cards as removable drives that canât be split into several partitions with the built-in Windows tools. And even if you partition the USB flash drive into two or more volumes using third-party utilities (say, in Linux), only the first partition will be available in Windows. Windows supports multiple partitions only for hard disk drives identified as local (i.e. non-removable).

So, how can you make Windows see your USB flash drive or SD card as a local hard disk? The answer is to use a special filter driver that modifies the response of the device to the system. One such filter driver is the Hitachi Microdrive Filter Driver, which was originally designed for Hitachi Microdrive digital media, but can work with any USB flash drive or SD card. In this article, we will show you how to use the Hitachi Microdrive Filter Driver to make your USB flash drive or SD card a fixed disk in Windows.

Download File

What is the Hitachi Microdrive Filter Driver?

The Hitachi Microdrive Filter Driver is a software component that intercepts and changes the data sent by the device driver of the USB flash drive or SD card. It alters the value of a special descriptor bit called RMB (removable media bit) on each of the devices. If the system determines that RMB=1 when polling the connected device using StorageDeviceProperty function, it concludes that this device is a removable drive. Thus, by changing the RMB bit to 0, the Hitachi Microdrive Filter Driver makes Windows think that the device is a fixed disk.

The Hitachi Microdrive Filter Driver does not change anything on the device itself, only on the driver level. This means that it only works on the computer where it is installed, and does not affect other computers or operating systems. Also, it does not require any flashing or firmware modification of the device, which can be risky and may void your warranty.

How to Install and Use the Hitachi Microdrive Filter Driver?

To install and use the Hitachi Microdrive Filter Driver, you need to follow these steps:

Download the Hitachi Microdrive Filter Driver from [this link]. It is a ZIP file that contains two files: cfadisk.inf and cfadisk.sys.

Extract the ZIP file to a folder on your computer.

Connect your USB flash drive or SD card to your computer.

Open Device Manager (devmgmt.msc) and find your device under Disk drives. Right-click on it and select Update driver software.

Select Browse my computer for driver software and then Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer.

Uncheck Show compatible hardware and select Hitachi from the Manufacturer list.

Select Hitachi Microdrive from the Model list and click Next. If you get a warning message, click Yes.

Wait for the driver installation to complete and click Close.

Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

After restarting your computer, you should see your USB flash drive or SD card as a fixed disk in Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) and other Windows tools. You can now partition it into multiple volumes using Disk Management or any other partitioning software. You can also access all the partitions of your device in Windows Explorer.

How to Uninstall the Hitachi Microdrive Filter Driver?

If you want to uninstall the Hitachi Microdrive Filter Driver and revert your device back to a removable drive, you need to follow these steps:

Open Device Manager (devmgmt.msc) and find your device under Disk drives. Right-click on it and select Properties.

Select Driver tab and click Uninstall. Check Delete the driver software for this device and click OK.

Disconnect your device from your computer.

Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

Connect your device to your computer again. Windows should automatically install the default driver for your device.

After restarting your computer, you should see your USB flash drive or SD card as a removable drive in Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) and other Windows tools. You can no longer partition it into multiple volumes or access all the partitions of your device in Windows.

Conclusion

The Hitachi Microdrive Filter Driver is a useful tool that allows you to make your USB flash drive or SD card a fixed disk in Windows. This way, you can partition it into multiple volumes and access all the partitions of your device in Windows. However, you should be careful when using this tool, as it may cause some compatibility issues with some applications or devices that expect a removable drive. Also, you should always backup your data before partitioning or formatting your device, as you may lose some or all of your data in the process.

If you have any questions or comments about the Hitachi Microdrive Filter Driver, feel free to leave them below.

a104e7fe7e