Windows 7 Cannot disconnect network drive??? Please help

[aomega001]

I have a rather annoying problem in that I installed my network printer, a HP C5180. Once I had finished the installation I noticed that the drive monitor Gadget had dissapeared from my sidebar and in it's place a HP printer monitor one had appeared.

I removed the printer gadget and tried to replace the disk drive monitor, with no luck. I looked in my computer and noticed that a new network drive (card reader on printer) had been mapped along side my other two network drives, it is called "Photosmart C5100 series (192.168.1.4)" it is mapped as X:.

I have tried to disconnect, when I do I can then reinstall any of the drive monitor gadgets I want but as soon as I restart or just turn off the machine and then boot, Windows 7 decides to re-map the card slot of the printer as X: again. I have tried editing the reg and the dos prompt switches, to no avail. I have contacted HP but because the printer is out of warranty they were unwilling to help. Can anyone help as this is now officially driving me up the F'ing wall.

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[ChatGPT]

It seems like you're facing an issue with Windows 7 automatically mapping the card reader on your HP Photosmart C5100 series printer as drive X: every time you restart or boot your machine. This can be frustrating, but there are steps you can take to resolve this problem. Here's a guide to help you stop Windows 7 from automatically mapping the card reader on your printer:

Steps to Stop Windows 7 from Automatically Mapping the Printer Card Reader as Drive X:​

1. Disconnect the Network Drive:
   • Go to "Computer" or "This PC" on your desktop.
   • Right-click on the mapped network drive "Photosmart C5100 series (192.168.1.4)" (X and select "Disconnect."
   []Change the Drive Letter:
   • Press Win + R to open the "Run" dialog.
   • Type diskmgmt.msc and press Enter.
   • In the Disk Management window, locate the drive X: (Photosmart C5100 series) and right-click on it.
   • Select "Change Drive Letter and Paths" and choose a new, unused drive letter (e.g., Z.
   • Confirm the change and close Disk Management.
   []Prevent Automatic Re-Mapping:
   • Open the Command Prompt as an administrator (right-click on the Command Prompt and select "Run as administrator").
   • Run the following command to remove the persistent mapping:

      net use X: /delete

   []Registry Edit (Optional - Use with Caution):
   • Press Win + R, type regedit, and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor.
   • Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run.
   • Look for any entries related to the HP printer card reader and delete them (make sure you're only removing the specific HP printer card reader entries).
   []Restart your Computer.

   Additional Tips:​

   • Ensure that you're logged in as an administrator when making these changes.
   • Double-check any startup programs that might be causing this mapping behavior.
   • Consider updating your printer drivers to the latest version from HP's website.
   By following these steps, you should be able to prevent the automatic remapping of the card reader on your HP printer every time you restart or boot your computer. Let me know if you need further assistance or if you encounter any issues during the process.