Latest download version of Everything (CURRENTLY uninstalled - see below)
I have a SYSTEM (very small) and a Windows 7 Ultimate as the first two partitions on each HD (NEW_GORDON is bare bare-bones debugger install)
Drive 0: SYSTEM NG2_WIN_7 Local_Data_1 (F:) Local_Data_2 (G:)
Drive 1: HP Boot Loader OLD_GORDON (C) HP_TOOLS RECOVERY Main_Data (E:)
I have configured EasyBCD on SYSTEM for dual boot option: NEW_GORDON (0) or OLD_GORDON (1)
The above drive letters are what I get when I chose OLD_GORDON as the boot option.
I started mounting three external drives to NTFS mount points: F:\DM1 F:\DM2 F:\DM3 a week or so ago.
Around that same time I started encountering an instability within Windows Explorer 7 (WE7). It would rapidly alternate between H:\ and SYSTEM (H:) in the left folder pane if I attempted to use diskmgmt to de-assign the H: drive letter (almost once per second). Notice that I omitted assigning a drive letter to SYSTEM and have never used this letter assignment. It just started popping up, assigned, after having used Everything for a couple of months w/o incident. When using thumb drives H: is usually the first empty available drive letter so I see why something would cause this to be assigned to SYSTEM, but in this case well after boot up, so obviously nothing to do with the boot loader or stsart-up processes.
If I put H: on the Everything exclude list this instability goes away. And the diskmgmt de-assigned H: is permanent.
But once it starts I have to delete Everything and re-install it as WE7 is unusable with the H: flipping.
I suspect that inserting a thumb drive somehow starts Everything accessing the H: (SYSTEM) partition for reasons unknown. Just a suspicion.
I would rather not waste drive letter, but more importantly I would like to understand what is going on (and it is just safer if SYSTEM is just is not accessible). And, is this phenomena apt to recur with the other unassigned partitions?
This problem is repeatable, if not immediately so; I guess it must be provoked...
Thanks in advance,
---JCN