This mod will guide you through the steps necessary to setup your Zune as a portable hard drive, and use it to store files of any kind.

Estimated Mod Time: 2 minutes
Mod Difficulty: Easy

Information & Setup
This modification is completely computer-side, meaning that you will have to change no settings on your Zune. This is a good thing and a bad thing. The good news is that there is no worry about voiding your Zune's warranty, but the bad news is that you must complete this mod on every computer you with to use to access your Zune as a portable hard drive.

The only setup required is that your Zune is NOT connected and the Zune Software is NOT running

And remember, ZuneMods.net is not responsible for any possible problems that may occur. Changing your registry is something you should perform at your own risk, because if you change the wrong values your computer may not function properly.

Step 1

Hit the "Start" button and choose "Run".


In the Run Menu type "regedit", and hit "OK"

Step 2
Now, a window should pop-up and on the top it should read "registry Editor". Now in that window use the left side browser to find "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\ControlSet001\Enum\USB\". Once you have completed that your screen should look like the following:


Step 3

Right click on the folder titled "USB" that you just found and select "Find".


In the "Find" window search for "PortableDeviceNameSpace"


Step 4
The right section of the window should now look like the following:
(Click to See the Full Image)
The next step is changing the following values:
Change: "EnableLegacySupport" from "0" to "1"
Change: "ShowInShell" from "0" to "1"
Change: "PortableDeviceNameSpaceExcludeFromShell" from "1" to "0"


Step 5

Close all windows and connect your Zune. Now when you browse to "My Computer" it should read your Zune as a device that you can browse into, and drag and drop files into.

In order to access files freely on your Zune, you must make sure that the Zune software is RUNNING. If you try to access your Zune as a hard disk while the Zune software is closed, it will give you a permission error.


Conclusion
Now remember, this must be done on every computer you wish to use to access your Zune. I know this article may look long but once you have done it once or twice it really only takes a minute or two to do it.

Immediately I noticed a major convenience, the "Music" folder in the Zune organizes your music by artist. This means that it is VERY easy to transfer music and songs to a friends computer.

Rating: 4.20/5.00 [5]