How To: Enable USB Storage on Windows Phone 7

Hate using the Zune software to load files on to your Windows Phone 7 device? Ya, me too. Well here’s how to transfer files from your computer to your Windows Phone 7 device without the Zune software; after this quick fix, simply plug in the phone and drag and drop files to it’s folder that appears. Ah, much better now, no?

I. Before You Begin

1. Just be careful what things you change in the registry. Make sure you only alter the registry entries we mention here to avoid unwanted changes to your computer.

2. Install the Zune software from Microsoft (we need it to be installed for the drivers it provides). You can get it here if you don’t already have it.

3. Plug your phone in to install the drivers.

II. Edit the Registry

1. Open the Windows Registry Editor on your computer by going to the Start menu and typing in regedit and hitting enter.

2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CurrentControlSet > Enum > USB

3. Then click on Edit > Find and type in ZuneDriver to search for it.

4. Once it finds it, select/highlight the folder above where ever it found ZuneDriver called Device Parameters.

5. In that folder, change the following options by right clicking them and selecting Modify:

  • Change ShowInShell from 0 to 1
  • Change PortableDeviceNameSpaceExcludeFromShell from 1 to 0
  • Change EnableLegacySupport from 0 to 1

6. Now, unplug and plug your Windows Phone 7 device back in and the Zune software should open, BUT you can close it and then go to your normal file explorer and navigate your Windows Phone 7 device as if it was a USB Storage device. Enjoy!

7 thoughts on “How To: Enable USB Storage on Windows Phone 7”

  1. Hi, I’ve followed the instructions and managed to access the phone. Next question is, how can I tranfer other docs or files, for e.g. pdf or doc, to view on the phone?

  2. You can now transfer any files you want to the phone. In order to view them on the phone, the phone needs to have an app that can view them. You’ll need to Google for those (and it’s possible with this new of an operating system that some of those apps don’t exist yet).

  3. Hi, i did the steps well.
    I can see the storage forlder, but i can not see the subfolders like music, vides, etc…
    It’s empty.
    I have to say that i am under Windows 7.5
    Is there anything else to do on this new version please ?
    Many thinks for you reply

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