How To Determine the Type of Drive Using Win32 (161300)



The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Visual Basic Learning Edition for Windows 5.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Learning Edition for Windows 6.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition for Windows 5.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition for Windows 6.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition for Windows 5.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition for Windows 6.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Standard Edition, 32-bit, for Windows 4.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition, 32-bit, for Windows 4.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition, 32-bit, for Windows 4.0

This article was previously published under Q161300

SUMMARY

There are many types of drives that Windows can detect and the Win32 API GetDriveType gives the Visual Basic programmer a simple way to differentiate between them. Below is a code sample showing how to use the API.

MORE INFORMATION

  1. Start a new Standard EXE project. Form1 is added by default.
  2. Add a DriveListBox to Form1.
  3. Add the code below to the General Declarations section of Form1:
          Option Explicit
    
          Private Declare Function GetDriveType Lib "kernel32" Alias _
            "GetDriveTypeA" (ByVal sDrive As String) As Long
    
          Private Function DriveType(sDrive As String) As String
            Dim sDriveName As String
            Const DRIVE_TYPE_UNDTERMINED = 0
            Const DRIVE_ROOT_NOT_EXIST = 1
            Const DRIVE_REMOVABLE = 2
            Const DRIVE_FIXED = 3
            Const DRIVE_REMOTE = 4
            Const DRIVE_CDROM = 5
            Const DRIVE_RAMDISK = 6
            sDriveName = GetDriveType(sDrive & ":\")
            Select Case sDriveName
              Case DRIVE_TYPE_UNDTERMINED
                DriveType = "has not been recognized"
              Case DRIVE_ROOT_NOT_EXIST
                DriveType = "specified doesn't exist"
              Case DRIVE_CDROM
                DriveType = "is a CD-ROM drive."
              Case DRIVE_FIXED
                DriveType = "cannot be removed I.E. Hard Disk"
              Case DRIVE_RAMDISK
                DriveType = "is a RAM disk."
              Case DRIVE_REMOTE
                DriveType = "is a remote I.E Network drive."
              Case DRIVE_REMOVABLE
                DriveType = "can be removed I.E. Floppy Disk."
            End Select
          End Function
    
          Private Sub Drive1_Change()
            MsgBox "The Drive Type " & DriveType(Left(Drive1.Drive, 1))
          End Sub
    						
  4. Press the F5 key to run the project, and select a drive from the Drive List box. A message box will be displayed showing what type of drive it is.

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:7/13/2004
Keywords:kbhowto KB161300