Allow certain users to see/use hard disk in Windows Vista

Question

Is there a way to limit certain user for example an Guest account in Windows Vista Utlimate to see only the C drive?

I have two SATA disks in a computer that I intend to setup in the living room and people can use the Guest account to do whatever but i only want them to see the C drive and not the other drive.

Answer 1

This can be done through the registry. Login with the user you want to hide it with and start the registry editor by pressing Win Key+R. Type in "regedit" and hit "Run" or press Enter.

Now navigate to the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\NODRIVES

If the hey doesn't exist, create it by navigating to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\ and then click "Edit" -> "New" -> "DWORD". Name it "NODRIVES" and enter the correct value as illustrated below by double clicking the key.

This key is a 32-bit value (DWORD). The last 26 numbers of this value represent the 26 letters of the alfabet like so:

00000000000000000000000000010111
------ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA

In the above example, drives A, B, C and E are hidden while D remains accessible. (1 is hidden, 0 is visible)

Drives hidden using the NODRIVES setting are not available through the regular Windows Explorer, in the Open\Save dialog boxes through Windows applications or in "(My) Computer". File Manager and the command prompt (cmd) are not affected by this registry setting and the drives WILL be accessible through these programs.