Non-Existent Drive in Windows Explorer

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I am running Windows 10 on a Dell Venue Pro 7130 tablet. There is one SSD installed - Local Disc C: However, in Windows Explorer I am seeing a second "drive" - Local Disc F: This appears to have the same size and free space as the C: drive, but when I open it it says it is empty.

I need to use the drive letter "F" for one of my external hard drives, but need to get rid of the phantom F drive first. Can anyone advise how I can remove the "drive"?

Thanks

Peter
 
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Be careful. It is unlikely, but it maybe the "restore to factory settings" folder, which is invaluable for a last resort restore. This would not, by default, have a drive letter unless you have been customizing in ant way.
It is reported as empty, as a dell safety measure.
I would suggest you download a program such as eusus partiton manager and examine the folder in more detail

http://www.partition-tool.com/
 
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Thanks for your reply, davehc. There is a partition on the C: drive called "Recovery Partition", so I guess this would be for system restore? The F: drive was not there when I purchased the tablet, but I use this drive letter when I connect my external USB hard drive, and I feel it may be some sort of false drive which has been left behind from when the hard drive was connected. However, I cannot now connect the hard drive as F; drive, because the PC thinks that drive already exists.
 
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After a bit of rummaging, I have found that if I go to Device Manager and show hidden devices, there are a number of "generic volumes" listed under Storage Volumes. If I uninstall these volumes and then do a reboot, the phantom F drive is at first missing in File Explorer, but after a few seconds the system recreates it. Is there any way to stop these "generic volumes" from being reinstalled?
 
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I tried everything to remove a non-existent CD drive with drive letter E from Windows 10 file explorer. Finally I uninstalled PowerISO and the non-existent drive was gone... poof!
 
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That was a virtual cdrom drive created by poweriso to mount iso files as media. Usually you have an icon in the taskbar that looks like a CD. If you right click on it a menu opens up and shows different options. One option is [set number of drives]. there you have the option to disable the drives but still be able to open ISO files with poweriso.
 

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