With Windows Phone 7 being completely locked down, it's good to see this hack that allows you to access the Zune filesystem of your Windows Phone 7 device. Originally, all syncing had to be done with the Zune desktop, but now you will be able to copy your music and photos by hand. While it doesn't give you full file system access, it will let you use your Windows Phone 7 as a USB storage device, assuming each computer has this hack set up.

Assuming you know how to use a registry editor on your computer, open up the good 'ole regedit.exe follow these instructions:

• Go to HKEYLOCALMACHINE\SYSTEM\
• Then go to HKEYLOCALMACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\USB (not the other ControlSet01 or 02 if you have them) and then search for ZuneDriver
• Select the device ID you want from the key. For most people, there will only be one anyway.
• Change ShowInShell from 0 to 1. This enable Windows Explorer to show the device when pluged in
• Change PortableDeviceNameSpaceExcludeFromShell from 1 to 0
  
• Change EnableLegacySupport from 0 to 1 This enables Windows Explorer to detect the device
  
  
• Connect your Windows Phone 7 to your computer, and close out the Zune desktop. You should now see your Windows Phone 7 device in Windows Explorer.

While it won't let you sideload any applications, it will enable you to copy files manually, which is preferred by some people. It will also turn your device into one of the more expensive flash drives, but we'll let you decide what you want to do with it. Also, keep in mind that videos and picture thumbnails will still be resized when you load them onto your device.

[Via: MobileTechWorld, WPCentral]