See the following articles:

• What is Removable Storage?
• How Removable Storage Works

Top of Page

To open Removable Storage in the Full View, use the Open Removable Storage button on the Backup tab of the Firestreamer-RM Control Panel.

Alternatively, follow the steps below.

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. Click Performance and Maintenance, click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management.
3. In the console tree, double-click Storage, and then double-click Removable Storage.
4. On the View menu, click Full.

See also the following articles:

• To change the way Removable Storage displays
• View Setting Preferences in Removable Storage Management Are Not Saved

Top of Page

Sometimes, the Removable Storage database may become corrupted on its own. If you are experiencing problems with Removable Storage, such as startup delays, you may want to initialize or restore an uncorrupted Removable Storage database as described in the following article.

• Error Message "Access Denied to Tape Media" When You Start Windows 2000 Backup

Note that both Method One and Method Two described in the article equally apply to Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Windows Server 2003. We recommend Method One, as it guarantees the error-free database.

IMPORTANT: If you initialized the Removable Storage database, perform the following steps to make sure your scheduled Firestreamer-RM Wrapper tasks will work as expected:

1. Open the Microsoft Backup Utility at least once to have it automatically create the Backup media pools.
2. If necessary, set the security permissions for the user account you use for scheduled backups.

Top of Page

Moving a piece of media to the Free pool destroys all data on the media. This operation may be required, for example, to prepare media for the first use with Firestreamer-RM, or to reset the media encryption password. To move a piece of media to the Free media pool, follow the steps below.

1. Open the Firestreamer-RM Control Panel.
2. On the Backup tab, click Enable, if Firestreamer-RM is not already enabled.
3. On the Backup tab, click Open Removable Storage.
4. In the left pane of Removable Storage, expand Libraries, and then click Firestreamer-RM Drive.
5. Insert a piece of media into the media drive.
6. Wait for up to a minute for the media to appear in the right pane of Removable Storage.
7. Right-click the media in the right pane, and then click All Tasks.
8. If Deallocate is available, click Deallocate. Click Yes in the confirmation dialogs.
9. Right-click the media again, and then click Free. Click Yes in the confirmation dialogs.
10. Wait for the drive to finish writing, then eject the media.
11. Repeat steps 5 to 10 for other pieces of media.

Top of Page

You may want to disable unused Removable Storage libraries to improve performance and to reduce the possibility of a failure. We recommend disabling all the libraries, including CD-ROM and Iomega REV ones, except of Firestreamer-RM Drive. If you also use a real tape drive, leave the corresponding library enabled, too. NOTE: Disabling a Removable Storage library does not affect the normal usage of the corresponding drive; only Removable Storage related functions are affected.

To disable unused Removable Storage libraries, follow the steps below.

1. Open the Firestreamer-RM Control Panel.
2. On the Backup tab, click Open Removable Storage.
3. In the left pane of Removable Storage, expand Libraries.
4. Right-click the library to disable, and then click Properties.
5. Uncheck Enable drive, and then click OK.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for all unused libraries.

Top of Page